Lights Salvation
by diginerd
Summary: Davis, feeling abandoned by his friends, turns to the new girl, who he starts to fell strange feelinsg for, leaving Davis confused about who and what he wants. But when the digi-world erupts in chaos, with Davis at the center of it, there is only one way to destroy the evil. But is the cost more than the Digidestined can bear? Daikari fic.
1. Dissed

Davis fell into a chair next to the computer lab, gently placing his backpack on the floor so as not to disturb Deviveemon from his slumber inside. Where were they? This was supposed to be the day that Yolei, T.K., and Kari had promised to go to the digi-world with him. Was he the only one who was excited to go? Yeah, maybe there were no digital disasters to avert anymore, but was it not enough just to be somewhere without rules? Ever since they had gotten to high school, the others had slowly started drifting away from not only the digital world, but from him. Sure, they would hang out every now then, but it seemed like they never had time for him any more, a fact he deeply resented. They all had other friends, but they were the only ones he had that he cared about spending time with. It was hard not to feel unimportantant when the only one who stuck with him constantly was Veemon. He didn't even get to see their digimon partners much anymore because of the distance between him and his human friends, and he knew Veemon missed seeing them. Especially Gatomon. Funny how his and his digimon partner's problems mirrored each other.

Cody and Ken always had studying to do, and both had gotten jobs at a computer workshop that Ken and Izzy co-owned. He saw Ken at soccer practice, but he rarely saw Cody unless they met in the Digi-world. Yolei was class president and was always working on something for the school, and T.K. and Kari both had clubs and other friends of thier own, so about all he ever saw of them anymore was at lunch and at social school sponsored events.

Like the upcoming dance they had talked him into attending. Davis dreaded it. Hated the thought of it. It had taken over two weeks for his friends to badger him into it. Two weeks of them constantly asking, texts, notes in his locker. He was able to avoid saying yes, for a while. But in the end, he had said yes for the same reason he had said no. Kari.

She had cornered him one day after soccer practice. He had started walking home, not even noticing her till she called his name. She had joked about how he must be blind and had laughed for a good minute when he had mimicked being blind, only to trip over his own feet, completely embarrassing himself. She gave him a hand up, and despite the blood that had suffused his face, he couldn't help but feel pleased that he had made her laugh. When she finally asked him about coming, it took less than a minute to convince him. Her arguement was that they'd all get to hang out like he always wanted. He had agreed, but it was her smile that finally made his will give, not her words. He just couldn't say no to her.

The problem was that he was in love with Kari. He wouldn't have gone to the dance any other way than her asking. The thought of seeing Kari, looking more beautiful and gorgeous than ever, that made his knees weak. He knew she would never feel the way he did. She hadn't said anything about her having a date, but he didn't know if he could bear to watch her dance with someone else if she did. David wouldn't have doubted it if T.K. had asked her. They had always been close due to their history together. It wouldn't take much to make them a couple. Davis was jealous of his friend, but he would much rather see them together than her with someone else. At least T.K. would treat her right.

Davis sighed. When had life gotten so complicated? He hadn't always felt so strongly for Kari, but in the last year or two, his feelings for her had grown. He hadn't ever had a real girlfriend, despite the fact that almost every girl at the school would be more than happy to date him. The most notable exception being Kari. He just never felt a spark with any girl except her. It had been a shock to Davis when he had realized he loved her, but also a relief. At least he knew nothing was wrong with him since he wasn't attracted to any of the girls that threw themselves at him.

Suddenly his phone rang out in the complete silence, startling him so bad he fell out of the chair he had propped himself on, and he knocked his head against the wall. "Mother-" he started to swear, but caught himself. He gingerly touched the lump on his head as he looked at the screen of his cell phone to find a text from Yolei. Dissappointment and anger filled his chest. He didn't even have to read the message to know that they had bailed. They almost always did, and since this damn dance was being hosted by one of the clubs Kari and T.K. were in and Yolei's job as student president obligated her to help with preparations, all of their energies would be concentrated on their tasks at hand. _Whatever. It's not like I expected anything different anyways. _He thought morbidly as he pulled himself up. He put his phone in his pocket, completely ignoring the text. He couldn't bring himself to say anything to his friends, but maybe his uncharacteric silence would tell them how he felt.

He heard a muffled exclimation from his backpack and a small blue head poked out sleepily. One look at Davis, and Deviveemon's face fell. "They're not coming, are they, Davis." It was more of a statement than a question.

Davis smiled sadly at his best friend, but the dissapointment on his partners face nearly broke his heart. "No, I'm afraid not little guy. I'm sorry. I miss them too" He patted Demiveemon's head for a second before he stood completely up. "Well, I guess there's no point in sticking around here anymore. Lets head home. Mom's probably getting dinner started anyways."

"M'kay, Davis. I hope she makes pizza tonight," the little blue digimon mumbled as hid back inside the pack. "Wake me when the foods ready..." he trailed off and his mumblings turned into snores. Davis smiled fondly down at his bag before hefting it onto his shoulder and starting down the hall.

The school was completely empty except for the occaisonal stray student or teacher, doing after school studying and volunteer work. None gave him a second glance. Most saw him here on a regular basis, so they didn't find it odd to see him wandering the halls, although he doubted whether any of them had any plausible reason why he would be here. _After a while, I suppose you just learn to go with it. Maybe me and Veemon will eventually learn to go with our situation. Surely this'll all work out someway. Summer is just in two months. Maybe they'll have more time for us then again, I'm starting to learn that maybe its not so wise to hope. Not anymore, _he thought darkly. The thought surprised him; he had always been more optimistic than not. It was all possibly tied to his dark mood, but this dark mood was becoming more and more normal. He almost didn't recognize himself from the immature kid he had been when he first entered the digi-world. There was a darkness inside now, something that he had never sensed inside himself before. Not that it was a very big force, espeacially compared to the mountian of hope that kept him so optomistic. It was just unconcerting to know that he was changing this way.

Davis was so engrossed in his thoughts that it didn't even occur to him that footsteps were approaching from around the corner, so he was taken completely off gaurd when he rounded the corner only to be plowed into by a pale skinned, brown haired girl with an arm load of text books.


	2. Strange Arival

**Ok, so chapter two. I'm not so good at dialogue, so I don't really know how all this will go over. I hope you like it. Please reveiw, and tell me what you think. **

As it was, they hit each other in full force, and the books scattered in every direction. The girl yelped in surprise as she tumbled forward while Davis simultaneously fell backward with his arms pinwheeling. He had just enough time to wonder why the hell he kept falling(!) before landing hard on his rear. He felt the edge of one of the fallen books dig painfully into his thigh. The girl fell haphazardly into his lap, thankfully missing his groin. He felt Demiveemon squirm around in his pack, but thankfully, he didn't make any noise.

The girl stared up at Davis in horror and he couldn't help notice that her eyes weres a beautiful soft brown. She quickly scrambled off of him, getting to her knees. Davis realized his legs were stradling her and rapidly pulled them in closer, going indian-style, a slow blush seeping onto his face, althought he doubted very seriously that his could be nearly as bad as hers. Her face was a deep crimson color, and her mouth moved soundlessly, trying to form words past her embarrassment. After a few seconds, she finally found her voice. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I am sooooooooooo sorry! So sorry! I should have been watching were I was going, and not walking so fast and- ooohhhhh no, my books, they're everywhere!" she cried out in dismay. She spoke in fluent Japanese but Davis detected the faint trace of an American accent. She crawled over to the nearest books and started collecting them.

Davis stared at her in bemusement. "Uhhh," he started, oh so intelligently. He cleared his throat and picked up the book that he had landed on, which was still partly under his leg. He got up and dusted himself off before collecting a few more that had scattered close to him. Holding them out to her, he tried to think of something to say. He was still a little taken by surprise. " Um, it's ok. Don't worry about it. I run into people all the time. Not to mention the occasional wall. Or trees. A few stop signs every now and then. Oh, and a man hole straight down to the sewer! I literally ran into it. Unintentional, of course. Not the same effect, but what the hell, huh? Still pretty embarrassing. I guess that's what I get for being absentminded."

The girl did a double take before cracking a grin that brightened her face. "You're a little odd, aren't you? I like that." She accepted the book with a grateful smile. "Thank you, kind sir. Who said chivalry was dead?" She reached down, picking up her last book, and adjusted them till they were comfortable in her arms, or as comfortable as she could get them. Now that Davis had a closer look, he saw that she had text books for at least six subjects, some of which he was taking himself, plus a popular manga which he had ironically just started reading through himself. Standing straight up, she was about a foot shorter than Davis. Her face was pleasently rounded, and her straight brown hair fell to her shoulders. She was clad in blue jeans and a pink tank top.

"Should I feel bad that I'm 'odd?'" Davis only half joked. "And I wouldn't call it chivalry, exactly. More like just being a little helpful. I was the one who knocked them everywhere at any rate." He was used to being called odd, so that didn't bother him to much. But being accused of chivalry? Not so much. He supposed she could be joking, but she seemed sincere. It unnerved him, but left him feelig oddly pleased.

"Not at all. Odd equals good in my opinion. Normal is just so...boring, y'know? I think it was chilvarous. To an extent anyways. None of the boys back home would ever help. Or be so nice about it. The only high school guys I know are jerks." She shrugged.

"Well that's not chivalry. That's being a good person. My name is Davis, by the way," he said and offered his hand. She stared at him with raised eyebrows, before glancing at the books in her arms meaningfully. "Oh, ah. Forgot about those." Another blush colored his face and he let his hand fall back to his side.

She threw her head back and laughed, a sweet, beautiful sound. "I like you Davis. Even if you did run into me." Davis opened his mouth to protest and then noticed he teasing smile. "My name is Melody. I just moved here from the United States because my parents are doing some kind of research into early Japanese history. They're historians. Both of thier speacilties are in Asian history. This is my first week in Japan. My parents sent me here so I could meet my teachers and get my books before I start class tomorrow. I guess I'm gonna have to get a bag for all these." She sighed and shifted the books into a different position, her arms seeming to becoming tired.

_Dummy! _Davis berated himself. "Here. Why don't you let me carry/hold those for you, you know. I mean if you want me to..." he tralied off awkwardly. He didn't know why he had offered. He certainly wasn't used to volunteering to carry books for anyone. Espeacially someone he had just met. Besides, what if she thought he was coming on to her? It would probably freak her out, even if it wasn't his intentions. As it turned out, his worries were unfounded.

She beamed at him. "Sure. That'd be nice. I mean, only if you want to!" she said nonchalantly. She smiled shyly at him as she handed him the books. "Do you think...no, never mind. I don't wanna bother you."

"No, what is it? I'm sure I'll be happy to help in any way I can," he reassured her, a little hesitantly.

"Well, i was hoping, well wondering really, and I mean, it won't bother me if you don't want to, I just thought, well...since I'm new in town, I thought maybe, you know, you could show me around sometime. I could use a friend. And a guide, till I get used to the area, and all. But...you probably don't have the time for it anyways." Her face was blood red, and she either couldn't or wouldn't look him in the eyes.

"I'd love to!" Davis said without thinking, his hesitation completely gone. The surprising thing was that he meant it. Davis didn't know exactly what it was, but something about this girl intrigued him, and he wasn't completely sure how. It felt very strange. Her face lit up again and she looked back up at him hopefully. "How about tomorrow? I don't have any plans. Me and my friends haven't been hanging out much lately, so I'm wide open." He coulnd't keep a note of bitterness from entering his voice.

"Tomorrow would be great," she said with a smile. "And is something wrong? With you and your friends I mean?" she inquired, sincere concern entering her voice. "Or are they just too busy? My friends back in America were always too busy for me before I moved. They regret it now, but I can understand why they couldn't. Maybe you should say something to them about it."

"Yeah, it's kinda the same way with mine. And it's not that I don't understand. I just hate whats happening with all of us. And I'm not completely sure my pride would let me say anything." Davis gave a half shrug. "Oh well. It is what it is. So anyways. Are you headed home right now?"

"Yeah, my parents will be expecting me soon, and I just met my last teacher before we had our head-on collision," she said, winking at him. I live in an apartment on Akarusa Street." She absently pushed a stray strand of hair away from her eyes.

Davis scratched his head in disbelief. "You're kidding me! That's just one block over from my home. Isn't that ironic? Haha, and convienent too, I'd say, if you ever wanna hang out. That's more of a question than a statement, by the way."

"Yeah, I think I'd like that," she said shyly. "You seem like a fun guy. And funny."

"Haha thanks. I try," he said, before snorting. "Although, a lot of the time it's more like funny just hits me in the face."

** "Or runs into you?" Melody asked slyly. **

Davis stared at her for a moment before busting out in laughter, the first real laughter he had had in a long, long time. "So it seems," he chuckled. "Well, let's start home, m'kay? Both of our parents will be waiting for us." He started walking down the hall in the direction he had originally been heading.

"Hey, wait. I thought the exit was the other way?" she queried.

He glanced back at her. "Only if you want the sceneic route. That way would make you walk around the school completely."

"Nope. No thanks!" she answered and quickly caught up. She fell silent for a moment. Davis looked over at her curiously to find her brown eyes locked on to his dark ones. "Thank you, Davis. This means a lot to me."

Davis felt his face flush, but he nodded. "I can honestly say that it's my pleasure." He stared at the ground in uncertainty. _Well, this is confusing. Somehow, this girl has put me in a better mood, and I haven't even known her but for ten minutes. What does this all mean?_


	3. Veemon's Advise

**I'm still a little nervous about how my writing is, but I appreciate everyone who has reveiwed the story. It's making me a little more confident. Please keep reviewing and telling me what you think. Thanks :)**

The weather was perfect for a walk. It was the perfect tempeture outside, not too hot, but warm enough to be enjoyable and a nice breeze kept them cool. The playground close to the school was teeming with toddlers shrieking with joy, and few cars were out on the road at this time of day.

It was a fifteen minute walk to Akarusa Street, and with each step, Davis found that he liked Melody more and more. She was easy to talk to, never taking any offense to any bone-headed comment he said. She even laughed at all his lame jokes, cracking quite a bit of them herself. She never pushed him when there was something he was holding back. She just tactfully changed the subject. Neither of them offered any seriously personal information, but Melody supplied just enough information that Davis couldn't help but grow more interested and curious about her despite the fact that he was trying so hard not to be.

He couldn't stop himself from glancing over at her every few minutes as they walked . It seemed as every little detail caught his attention. The sun glinting in her hair as she she absentmindedly pushed her bangs away from her eyes. The way she walked with seemingly unconcious grace. Her stride was confident, and she never stumbled. Her bare arms were pale and were nicely sculpted.

Sh_e's beautiful, _he found himself thinking, then started violently as he realized what he'd just thought. What the hell? He didn't find any girl cute, much less beautiful, besides Kari. And he barely even knew her! In his shock, he briefly fell silent.

"Davis, earth to Davis," Melody's voice cut through his thoughts like a blade. Davis shook his head slightly, trying to clear these disturbing and intriguing thoughts only to realize why she was trying to catch his attention. He had been staring at her for over a minute. Her eyebrows were raised. "Uh, are you ok? You look like you just got hit by a bus. It isn't anything I said, was it?" Now a note of worry crept into her voice.

"No, gosh no," he responded quickly. He turned his gaze staight ahead. "I was just thinking. I guess concentrating to hard. It's nothing." He flashed her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

Melody didn't seem completely convinced, but she didn't push the subject. "Ok, if you're sure. Well," she sighed, as they turned onto her street," I guess this is it." She pointed to the large apartment building right across from them. They walked the last few yards to the front door in silence. When they finally arrived, she turned to look at him.

They stared into each others eyes, and just for that moment, time seemed to stop, and everything world melted away except for the girl in front of him. His confusion melted away, and for a split second, all he felt was an inexplicable peace and a powerful longing that welled up inside him. And then it was over. Time sped up again, and all his anxiety rushed back in like a flood. "Well, here you go..." he said awkwardly as he held the text books out to her.

Melody reluctantly accepted them. "Thanks...again, Davis. I'm really glad I met you. You just made my day fifty times better. I know that sounds crazy, seeing as how we've only known each other for about half an hour. It might just be me, but I really feel like we clicked." She lightly set her books on the ground, and quickly hugged him, going up on tip toes to put her arms around his neck. Davis caught the scent of vanilla shampoo, but was to startled too react and by the time he regained his composure, she had already released him, picked up her books, and was opening the door. She glanced back at him with a shy smile. "Bye. I'll see you tommorow. Meet me at our crash site after school, if your offer to show me around is still on the table." Davis mutely nodded, and Melody's smile deepend as she turned and walked inside the building.

Davis walked home without really realizing where he was going. When he reached his apartment, he heard his mother call out his name, but he barely registered the fact. He stumbled into his room and locked the door behind him. He lightly sat his backpack on the bed before collapsing onto it himself. Demiveemon poked his head out of the bag to make sure that they were alone before popping out.

Light surrounded him and he cried out," Demiveemon digivole tooooooo Veemon!" And there stood the evolved Veemon, looking every bit the same as the day Davis and him had first met. It had been a long time since then, but nothing could ever change the bond the two shared with each other. "Davis." Veemon looked on his partner in worry. "Are you ok, buddy?"

"I don't know," he responded honestly. "I feel like I've been ran over by a herd of Monochurlmon." Davis stared at his hands, as if he could find all the answers he sought from the lines on his palms. But of course, no such luck. His mind still raced in turmoil. No answers came, only silent confusion. Nothing about this made any sense to him.

"Well, it's pretty obvious you like her, Davis," Veemon observed as he sat down next to him. "I could tell just be the way you were talking. I've only heard you talk to Kari like that."

Davis stared at Veemon tiredly. "Like what?"

The little blue digimon shrugged. "So uncertain, but at the same time so open. Most of the time, you're either completely closed off, or completely open, like you are with me or Ken or T.K."

Davis sighed. "I just don't know what to do, Vee. I know I like her. And that in itself is almost enough to render me speechless. I don't understand this at all. It isn't logical. Hell, its like the poster child for the _illogical. _Kari is the only girl I've ever liked, ever cared for like that. Until today. I started liking this girl in less than an hour. But I **love **Kari. I just like Melody. I don't even know if I'm feelin this way because I'm trying to get away from hurting over Kari. To be perfectly honest, I think the two of them are a lot alike. But at the same time, its like they're completely different. I can't explain it. I don't even know if I'm just trying to replace Kari, or if what I feel is the real deal. I just feel like a traitor to myself." He closed his eyes, a headache starting to form.

"I know you love Kari. You of all people know I can understand how you feel about her, because you know how I feel about Gatomon. But I also know what anguish it is to love someone who doesn't feel the same way. We both do. That's why I think you should see where this thing with this girl Melody takes you. Don't worry about the why's right now. You can figure that out when you have more perspective on the situation." Veemon said all of this with detatchment, but Davis knew Veemon well enough to hear the pain in his partners voice.

Davis bolted up into a sitting position. "What? Your kidding, right, Vee? You're telling me that you'd even concider doing the same if you were in my position, and some other digimon came along? We both know you wouldn't."

Veemon looked at Davis sadly. "We also know that you'd give me the same advise that I am giving you. It hurts me to see you in agony over Kari, almost as much as it does for me to agonize over Gatomon. I believe you could be happy with Melody, given the chance. And while it wouldn't fix my problem with Gatomon, it would make me feel better knowing that you , at least, are happy."

"You...you think so?" Davis asked. "I don't know Vee. What if I can't get past Kari? I don't really know if I can."

"You have to try at least, Davis. Otherwise, you'll always be stuck on her, and you'll never move on."

"Don't you think that you should take the same advise?" Davis shot back at him. There was a moment of silence between the two of them. "You know that I would take your pain if I could, right buddy?" Davis said in a softer voice.

"I know, and I'd do the same for you given the chance. That's kinda what I'm trying to do right now anyways," he pointed out.

The two partners fell in silence, both preoccupied by their own thoughts. _He's right, and I know it, _Davis thought. _I don't know if I have the strength to do this, but I'll try. I owe it to Veemon and to myself. And with Vee by my side, I'll always have someone to lean on if I get to weak to go on._

"Alright. I'll take your advise. I'll see how me and Melody go," Davis finally said aloud, with a sense of finality. Weight seemed to fall off him, but there was still some dread, some doubt. It still felt like he was betraying his love for Kari. Like he was ignoring part of who he was. Which he was, in a way.

Veemon smiled at him. "Thanks, Davis. I hope this all works out for the best."

"I don't know if it will, but maybe, as long as we have hope. Have I ever told you how lucky I am to have you as a patner and as my best friend?" Davis said, placing his hand on Veemon's shoulder. Veemon didn't respond, but Davis knew how much his word meant to his friend. They certainly been through a lot together.

**Downtown communtity center**

"Umph!" Kari grunted as she lifted a prop into place. She felt a thin trail of sweat slide down her temple, and she wiped it away with the back of her hand in annoyance. They had been decorating for this damn dance for over half an hour. It wasn't that there were just so many decorations, it was just so few people who were actually doing it. Only three, as a matter of fact. How Yolei had talked her out of a trip to the digi-world, Kari would never know. She supposed it might have been the frantic look on her friends face when she begged her and T.K. to stay longer after the rest of their fellow volunteers had left (at the appionted time, she might add). With the dance only a week away, Yolei was going into full panic mode.

"Are we done yet?" T.K. complained loudly. He looked just as tired as she did. Not half as iritable though. Without waiting for an answer, he pulled up a chair and sat down, stradling the back of it with his legs and resting his elbows on top of it.

"Sure thing!" Yolei said brightly. "Great work today team! Wonderful job on the streamers, Kari!" Kari glared daggers at her, but for all the concern Yolei showed, she either didn't notice, or didn't care. More likely the latter. "We should be finished with all the preparations by Wednesday. Then all that's left to do is to organize the music selection and pre-order the food!"

"Yeah, that should be a blast," T.K. said sarcastically.

Yolei winked at Kari before exclaiming," Why, thank you for volunteering to help, T.K! It should be much less difficult for_ two_ people to sort all this stuff out!"

T.K. stood up quickly to protest, only to get his feet tangled up in the chair, and did a face plant. Kari couldn't help but double over laughing. She felt her annoyance for Yolei lessen."Yolei! You're terrible!" she cried, gasping for breath.

T.K. struggled to his feet. "Diabolical," he moaned, but Kari saw his lips twich as he tried not to smile. "Why did I stay around for all of this, instead of going with Davis to the digi-world, again?" he said dramatically, finally letting the grin touch his lips. Kari saw Yolei flinch at the mention of Davis, but T.K. didn't seem to notice. "Well I gotta go, as much as I'd like to stay and chat. Matt and Sora invited me and Mom to thier house for dinner tonight. Apparently they have some news to tell us." He rolled his eyes. "Probably about a new concert coming up or something. Later," he said waving to them over his shoulder.

Kari watched him go, before turning back to Yolei. "Ok, spill. What's wrong," she demanded in that no nonsense tone she had perfected over the years.

Yolei looked down and sighed. "Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. I don't think Davis is very happy with us right now. He never texted me back after I sent him the message telling him that we weren't coming. He, might just not have remembered to reply, but its just not like him."

Damn. Dread filled Kari like ice sinking through her veins. "He's upset with us, Yolei. All of us. The last time I talked to him, he seemed so...sad. He said it had been a while since he had really seen any of us. At the time i didn't think anything about it, but now..." Kari trailed off and saw her own dismay mirrored in Yolei's.

"We need to talk to him, Kari. He's probably feeling like we don't care anymore. We all need to spend time with him, but I think you should talk to him first. Smooth everything over. He has always responded better to you than the rest of us anyways. "

Kari ran her fingers through her hair. "Ok, I'll do it. I've got some school work I've got to catch up on tomorrow anyways. I'll find him after that and spend some time with him. Even if I have to wait for him at his house."


	4. The Enemy Revealed, Sort Of

**OK guys. Sorry my chapters are so short. I plan on making them longer in the future, but we'll have to see how that works out. I had planned on extending this chapter, but it didn't feel right for me to continue the chapter. Sorry to disappiont some of you, but I'm planning on keeping this a Daikari fic. Review and tell me what you think. **

Davis had trouble sleeping that night. He tossed and turned, but nothing seemed comfortable, and his thoughts wouldn't shut up. He couldn't help but compare Kari and Melody. Whenever he got his thoughts off one, they turned to the other. It hurt to be stuck on Kari like he was, and it seemed easy with Melody. But something felt off. He couldn't place a finger on it, but he knew it was there. He sighed.

Suddenly, it was like someone was pressing on his chest. He couldn't breathe. It felt like he was being pulled out of his own body, but as quickly as it had started, it was over.

Davis opened his eyes, only to find a blackness that engulfed him as if his eyes were still shut tight. He sucked in air to replace what he had lost on his way to whatever this place was. At least he could breathe here. That was one good thing. He glanced down and found that he could see himself perfectly. He was still had his sleep pants on, so that meant no digivice or D-Terminal to call for help. "What the hell is this?" Davis said under his breath. The sound of his voice seemed to float away into nothingnes. Ok, this was creepy. A chill started to work its way down his spine. The darkness was oppresive, and it felt as if someone was pumping ice water into his veins. This wasn't good. At all.

He heard a sound behind him and whirled around to find a shape forming in the blackness, slowly gaining shape and color. Davis tensed, ready to put up a fight if he had to. Davis was no expert of martial arts, but he had taken a few lessons every now and then, and he figured if you have to go down, why not go down fighting? He was about to make his move when the apparition fully formed, revealing it to be Veemon, and though Davis still didn't understand how he was able to see his partner or himself in the black void around them, he still felt relief wash through him briefly. Veemon looked around confused. "Wher- what? What is this place? Davis? What are you doing here! Hell, what am _I_ doing here?"

"I dunno, little guy. Where ever we are, I don't like the feeling of it. This is really starting to fre-," Davis started to say before he was cut off by a sharp pain that stabbed into his chest. He fell to his knees, seeing Veemon likewise incapacitated. An aura of vast evil seemed to surround them, and the power from this unknown evil made Davis long to curl up into a ball, but the power of courage inside of him kept both him and Veemon strong.

Laughter exploded out in the darkness, making the two partners cover their ears from the intensity of the sound. The laughter was the kind of trademark laughter that all the evil baddies seemed to feel like they had to master. The laughing itself seemed only too fitting for their surroundings, but it didn't neccisarily scare Davis or Veemon. They had heard the same kind laughter from every bad force they had ever faced. Same dance, different partner. What was unnerving was that it came from all around them, from the very blackness itself.

Two glowing red eyes appeared in front of them, both as big as trucks. **"AH, DAISUKE MOTOMIYA AND VEEMON,"** a male voice said, with unhidden mockery and malice. **"WE FINALLY MEET. THE FAMOUS LEADER OF THE DIGIDESTINED, HOLDER OF COURAGE AND FREINDSHIP, POSSESOR OF THE DIGIEGG OF MIRACLES. HOW PATHETIC,"**the voice scoffed. **"I ALWAYS WONDERED HOW SOMEONE NO MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN A SIMPLE TEENAGE BOY WITH AN OBSESSION WITH SWIMMING ACCESSORIES COULD STOP MALOMYOTISMON. DID YOU MAKE HIM LAUGH HIMSELF INTO OBLIVION?" **

Fury ignited inside Davis. Ok, so maybe Davis could take insults. It had stopped bothering him after so long. He didn't really care anymore, he had bigger fish to fry. But no one, and he meant no one, made fun of the goggles. Through his and Veemons' bond, he sensed his partners own anger, although it probably had more to do with this unknown power dissing Davis than it did about the goggle comment. He supposed it was good that they were so mad, because the anger made the effects from the evil lessen slightly. Both of them stood straight up, and looked into the glowing red eyes defiantly. "Why don't you bring it on and I can show you how the hell I beat him. Just who do you think you are, you mother fucker!" Davis yelled, clenching his fist like he could actually do something. _Well, at the very least I can punch him in his eye. I'll see if that knocks that smugness out of him. _Davis knew he wasn't thinking rationally. He probably wouldn't be able to touch this thing in front of him. But right then, that didn't really matter. "Why did you bring us here! Where is here!"

"Why do you hide in the dark?" Veemon taunted. "You talk a big talk, but are you too ugly to show your face?"

This seemed to amuse him. Davis couldn't help but feel that the red eyes focused on him, although he couldn't tell since it was all red and no pupils. **"I HIDE NOT, LITTLE DIGIMON. I HAVE HEARD THAT MY FORM IS BEAUTIFUL," **he said, before breaking out in the evil laughter again.

Davis looked around confused. "What the hell are you talking about?" He and Veemon glanced at each other, and Davis knew they were thinking the same thing. Either this evil whatever it was knew something they didn't, or he was trying to throw them off balance. If it was the latter, it was certainly working.

There was still glee in the monsters voice when he responded. **"THAT MATTERS NOT, DIGIDESTINED. I BROUGHT YOU HERE TO SEE HOW YOUR CAPABILITIES STAND UP TO MY POWERS. AND TRULY, I AM IMPRESSED. BUT IT MATTERS NOT. SOON, YOUR TIME WILL COME, AND WHEN IT DOES, I WILL HAVE MY ULTIMATE VICTORY. I KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEARS, DAISUKE MOTOMIYA. I WILL USE YOU AS MY TOOL TO RUIN BOTH WORLDS."**

"To hell you say!" Davis yelled. "Who ever you are, we'll stop you. MaloMyotismon himself couldn't beat us!"

The evil thing chuckled. **"WE SHALL SEE, PUNY ONE. WE SHALL SEE." **

Davis opened his mouth to retort, but no sound came out. He felt a pulling sensation in his gut as he started to be withdrawn from the darkness. He saw Veemon speeding along beside him, and they both watched as the red eyes got farther and farther away.

There was a loud pop, and Davis sat bolt upright in his bed, shivering with a cold sheen of sweat on his forhead. "Veemon?" Davis asked quietly in a shaky voice.

"I'm here, Davis," Veemon responded grimly. "You don't even have to ask. It wasn't a dream. It was really me there with you."

"Well, this has been a weird day." Davis ran his fingers through his spiky hair. "Buddy, I think we have a problem."

Veemon scoffed at him. "You think?" He said sarcastically. "We've got a big problem, Davis. A big, big, big, big evil dark digimon problem."

"I don't know, Vee. His eyes didn't seem that big. Maybe Greymon sized. Possibly a bit bigger," Davis said, grinning at his partner.

Veemon stared at him in disbelief. "You're joking. How can you be joking at a time like this?"

"Just trying to ease the tension, little guy," he responded, growing serious. "But you're right, of course. This guy seemed powerful. Hell, he was even able to pull us out of here and into whatever the hell that was. We couldn't even have stopped him if he had attacked, since we didn't have the digivice. This guy could cause us some serious problems in the future, if we're not careful."

"We need to tell the others, Davis." Veemon said. He didn't sound exactly pleased with his statement, and Davis didn'y blame him as he also felt the same way. Even the threat of imminent destruction wan't enough for them to let go of the bitterness they felt towards them right now.

"I hate to admit it, but you're right, Vee," Davis said reluctantly. "I'll call a meeting for tomorrow afternoon."

Veemon looked at Davis in confusion. "But don't you have a date tomorrow afternoon, Davis?"

Davis felt a blush rise to his face, and he quietly cursed himself. "Damn it. I forgot about it completely. Besides, it isn't a date." Davis glared at Veemon, but Veemon just looked back at him innocently, although Davis still saw the smirk he was trying to hide. "Fine. I see your point, put it doesn't matter! Don't you think this is more important than that?"

"Maybe as far as the world is concerned, but maybe not for you personally," Veemon said. Davis tried to protest, but Veemon interrupted him. "How about this, Davis. You go on with your plans with Melody, but when you're done with that, we call the meeting? That way you get the best of both options."

Davis opened his mouth to protest, but couldn't think of any reason why that wouldn't work. Davis wouldn't admit this out loud, but he knew it wasn't the plan that he didn't like. He just didn't want to throw himself back into all of this confusion over Melody. At least he was used to evil digimon threatening him and his world. Hell, he even preferred the pain from feeling abandoned by his friends than the confusion he felt around Melody. "Fine," Davis finally sighed. "I can't see any reason for that not to work. I'll just have to wait till after my thing with Melody to message everyone, since I don't know when that'll be over."

"Sounds good to me," Veemon said, somewhat cheerfully. "I think you should get some sleep Davis. We have a long day tomorrow, you in particular." He winked at Davis, and though Davis had become much more mature over the years, he couldn't resist sticking his tongue out at Veemon childishly.

"Night, Vee," Davis managed, before he collapsed on the bed. Why hadn't he realized how exhausted he was? Davis fell asleep, wishing that tomorrow was already over.


	5. Out For Pizza

**Hey guys. Not necessarily my best chapter I don't guess. I'm just having a few problems with details. If anyone has any suggestions, please inbox me. Read and review please. Even negative reviews are appreciated. **

Davis woke up the next morning still exhausted, despite having slept all night. Thankfully, he had had no nightmares, but his anxiety and impaitence for the next day kept his slumbe fitful. Veemon hadn't fared any better apparently, as he was up even before Davis, and had dark circles under his eyes. Neither of them said a word to each other as Davis got ready for school, nor was anything said as Veemon de-digivolved into Demiveemon and climbed into his backpack. Usually, Veemon stayed at home, but as it was unlikely that they would be home till late that night, the partners came to a silent agreement that it was necessary for him to come.

He walked quickly into the kitchen, taking just enough time to nab two biscuits (one for both him and Demiveemon) before heading to the front door. Right before he was about to exit, he looked over his shoulder and yelled,"Mom! I'll be a little late coming home tonight. I thought I might spend some time out with the guys." He heard pots and pans rattle in the kitchen as he heard his mother start to wash the dirty dishes.

"Alright, hun," his mom called back cheerfully. "Your father won't be back till later either, so I'm just ordering in tonight anyways. Tell them I said hey. It's been a while since I last saw them."

Davis felt like someone had punched him in the gut. Of course his mom didn't mean anything by it, but it was like she was pouring salt into his open wound. "Yeah, ok," he was able to choke back. He left the apartment and walked the rest of the way to school with his hands in his pockets. He intentionally avoided Akarusa Street for fear of running into Melody. He hoped to keep his distance from her until he absolutely had to. He quietly slipped one of the biscuits into his backpack hoping Demiveemon wouldn't get crumbs on his stuff. Again.

He had just reached the back entrance of the school when he heard hurried footsteps behind him. "Davis! Hey, Davis, wait up!" a familliar voice called out, sounding slightly out of breath. Relief flooded him as he realized it wasn't Melody, but it was short lived. He turned around and saw T.K. standing in front of him with his hand on his knees and a giant smile on his face. "I saw you around the corner, and boy, do I have some news to tell you!"

It lifted up Davis's spirits slightly to see T.K. so happy, but they plummeted as fast as they had soared. _What if he and Kari..._, he started to think before forcing that thought out of his head with sheer will power. It didn't matter. _As it is, whatever his good news is will only be ruined by my bad news anyways, _he couldn't help adding to himself, bleakly.

"Yeah?" he said, forcing a smile. "Don't keep me in suspence! Spill the beans."

T.K. took a deep breath before bursting out with glee," Sora and Matt are getting married!"

Davis stared at him stunned. "No way! That's amazing!" A slow smile spread across his face, but this time it wasn't forced.

"I know! Mom was estatic when they told us last night! I can't believe it! He's planning to have Tai be his best man, and me to be his second groomsman, and Sora wants Mimi and Kari to be her bridesmaids! Matt was wanting to tell you, but I just can't keep the news to myself! I'm gonna go find Kari!" T.K. grinned at Davis one last time before starting away.

Davis heitated before calling out," Hey T.K.!"

"Yeah, what is it?" T.K. asked, half turning to look at Davis.

"Are you gonna be doing anything tonight?" It sounded a little awkward to Davis even as he said it. There used to be a time where he never felt awkward around his friends. Now though...

"I won't be able to go to the digital world, if thats what you're asking. I'm helping Yolei finish the decorations for the dance tonight," he said apolegetically.

"No, its not about going to the digital world. Well it is, sort of, but I just really need to talk to you. All of you, actually. What time do you think you'll be finished?"

"We should be done by 6 o'clock," T.K. responded thoughtfully. "What is it that you need to talk about?"

Davis bit his lip. "That's better left until later. And 6 sounds perfect. Do you think you and Yolei can meet me at the park tonight at about 6:30?"

"Wellllll, I guess we could. I'll have to call my mom and tell her," he replied with obvious hesitation. "I hope whatever this is is important, Davis."

"More than you know," he said, half to himself. "I'll message everyone else on the D-terminal."

"Ok, see ya later," T.K. said with a finality as he hurried away.

"Bye," Davis said quietly and sighed. Never enough time. Not that he expected anything other than that anymore. Davis stalked into the school, somehow managing to be in a better and worse mood. He was happy and excited for the two older Digidestined. Although he hadn't known the two long before they started dating, he still doubted that either one of them had ever been happier. The way that they looked at each other was the same way he looked at Kari, albeit his gaze always contained the anguish of unrequited love. Davis slipped into the bathroom beside his homeroom class and took out his D-terminal. It was a pain to have to hide in the bathroom to send messages, but his school had a strict no phone policy, and although he broke the rule all the time anyways, his D-terminal wasn't worth risking. He didn't want some goody goody teacher to take it up and leave him with no indirect way to monitor the digital world.

He quickly typed out a short message to each Ken, Cody, and Kari, asking them all to meet at the park at the time he and T.K. had agreed on. Ken and Cody eached replyed quickly, although he never got a response from Kari. Both of them wanted to know what was going on, but finally agreed reluctantly when Davis insisted that it was important.

Davis sighed. _Well that's taken care of. For the most part anyways, _he said to himself, thinking of Kari. He thought about calling her, but one glance at his watch killed that idea. Three minutes till class started, and Kari usually kept her phone off during school. _I guess I'll just have to contact her after school, _he thought grimly. "Vee, your plan is more trouble than it's worth," Davis said through gritted teeth, looking at his backpack.

"Sorry, Davis," came Demiveemon's muffled voice from the pack. "In retrospect, it does seem a little more complicated than I origionally thought. But at least we'll get it over that much quicker."

Davis just grumbled to himself and proceeded to his class room, entering right as the bell rang. "Alright, class. Today we'll be studying Shakespearian literature, starting with one of his most popular plays, _Romeo and Juliet," _his literature teacher said excitedly.

Davis groaned inwardly. Great, just great. This was going to be a loooooonnnnnnggggg day.

As it turned out, he was exactly right. After literature, he had a pop quiz in trig, and and essay on early Japanese history. His day was going horribly. The only good news (to Davis at least) was that Melody didn't seem to have any classes with him, although many of his teacher referred to a new American exchange student joining the school that day. Davis kept an eye out for her at lunch and in the hallways, but saw no sign of her.

Finally, the last bell of the day rang. Davis took his time gathering his things as his classmated all filed out of the room. He made his was slowly through the hall and pulled out his D-terminal, checking to see if Kari had happened to message him back yet, which she hadn't. He reached his and Melody's meeting spot before her, so he started typing out another message. Halfway through, he heard hurried footsteps approaching down the hall. Dread fell through his veins like lead, and he quickly finished the message and shoved the terminal back into his pocket, just as Melody came around the corner.

Despite the dread that weighed him down, the smile that she gave him made his stomach do a weird flip flop. "Why, if it isn't my crash course buddy," she said, faking surprise. "Fance meeting you here. Who would've guessed?"

"Certainly not me," he replied, playing along. "Of couse, our parting words yesterday should've tipped me off that some strang occurance might happen."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, we better be going. My parents are expecting me home by 5:30," she said, rolling her eyes. "Buzz kills, both of them. They say that until they get used to the area." She smiled at him apologetically.

_5:30? That's perfect! I'll have time to talk to Kari before the meeting, _Davis thought, but didn't say. He didn't want to hurt her feelings by seeming eager for it to be over with. "That's cool," he said, shrugging. "That still gives us two hours to hang out. You hungry? I'm famished. I never seem to get enought food here."

She nodded her approval. "Yeah, I didn't even eat at lunch. A lot of classmates kept me talking, and I barely had time for two or three bites of food."

"Welp, I know this great pizzaria just down the block from here. Let's roll out." She grinned as she followed him.

Somehow, Davis was able to keep his anxiety to a minimun as they waled to the pizzaria. She was just as easy to be with now as she had been yesterday. They had almost reached the place when she tripped over her feet and started to fall. Years of playing soccer and doging attacks from digimon had left Davis with excellent reflexes, so he easily caught her, one hand behind her back and one catching her hand. She looked up at him and smiled in adoration. "Nice reflexes, Davis." She kept a held on to his hand as he righted her up. He saw the caution in her eyes and knew that she was seeing if it bothered him for her to hold his hand. Honestly, it didn't do anything but make him feel awkward. He had never held a girls hand before. But in the same breath, he had also never been on a date, so he supposed there was a first time for everything. He tightened his hold on her hand after a second, and another smile split her face. They turned and started walking the rest of the way to the restaraunt.

Davis ate his meal in relative silence, while Melody chattered on about how her first day went . Davis tried to listen, but a sense of foreboding had started to steal over him, and je had no idea why. Something wasn't feeling right. Finally he just decided to ignore it. This wasn't the first time he had felt something like this for no reason. It was probably just his nerves playing tricks on him. He turned his full attention to her, and started participating in the conversation a little more. He was rewarded with a small burst of pleasure every time that he made her laughm but despite that, the foreboding refused to go away. She held his hand under the table, and Davis found himself hoping that his palms weren't sweaty. Her hand was soft in his, and seemed to fit well in his hand. But whenever he knew she wasn't watching, he would sneak some of his pizza into his pack for Demiveemon, who happily chomped on the food. When all the pizza was eaten, Davis went and paid the bill.

"Hey, do you mind waiting outside for me?" Melody asked when he returned. "I gotta go to the little girls' room."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be right outside," Davis replied. As he watched her walk away, the sense of foreboding slowly left with her. _I guess it __**is **__just my nerves,_ Davis thought. He stood there thoughtfully for a moment before walking outside to wait.

* * *

Kari walked out of the school and stretched. _Finally, _she sighed to herself. _I hated having to do all that work, although I'm glad I don't have anything to catch up on to go find Davis. _She felt her insides flutter familiarly. She was excited she was going to get to see him, since they didn't spend much time together anymore. She still saw everyone else in thier little group except for him. Tai (who had moved out about two years ago) hung around Izzy's and Ken's shop a lot these days because he had nothing else to do after work, since Matt was usually on tour and he had no steady girlfriend to hang out with. Therefore, Kari went to the shop as well, just so she could see her older brother. And she spent a lot of time with T.K. and Yolei as well, seeing as they all had joined many of the same study groups. But Davis was never really into any of that stuff and it was hard for him to swing over to the shop much because he had soccer practice almost every day, including during the off season. Kari knew that he missed all of them. That was obvious.

There was just one little hiccup in her plan. She had forgotten both her cell phone and D-terminal this morning at home, as she had overslept, which was highly unusual for her. It would be out of her way to go all the way home just to get them, as she had been planning on waiting for Davis at his house, which was completely the opposite direction. So, she decided just to go and wait for Davis.

She had just started down the street when the door of a popular pizza place opened up at the end of the block, and a familiar spiky haired teen with goggles stepped out. A wide grin filled her face. _Think of the devil, and then he appears, _she thought gleefully. He had his back turned to her and she was just about to call out his name when the door opened again, and a girl stepped out into the sunlight. Davis said something to her, causing the girl to throw her head back and laugh. She put one of her hands on his arm adoringly and then grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers together.

Everything seemed to slow down. Kari felt like someone had just punched her in the stomache. She backed away slowly in shock and horror, before turning around and going to a full out sprint, her only thought to get home.

* * *

Melody had just exited the pizza shop when he heard running behind him. He turned curiously just in time to see a familiar looking figure run around the corner. _...Kari?_ he thought in bewilderment.


	6. We Quit

**Hey there guys. I tried to make this an emtionally charged chapter, so I really wanna know what you think. As always, thanks to all those who have commented and read my story. I hope you enjoy the chapter. **

People stared as she passed by them, but Kari didn't care. She didn't know why she was running, but right now, she didn't really care about that either. The image of Davis and the girl was burned into her mind, and everytime she closed her eyes, the image apeared super imposed on the back of her eyelids.

She didn't stop her break neck speed until she reached the front door of her families apartment building. Her breath came in ragged gasps, and she slowed down just enough to go up the stairs. She ran into the apartment, thankful that her parents were still at work. It would have beeen to difficult to explain. She opened her bed room door before turning and slamming it with an ear shattering bang.

"Kari? What is it, what's wrong?" came a concerned, feline-like voice from behind her. Kari turned around to find Gatomom jumping down from her bed. She bared her claws menacingly and hissed slightly. "Whose eyes do I scratch out."

"No one, Gatomon," she replied between gasps of breath. "I...I honestly don't know what's wrong..." she trailed off, not knowing whether she was capable of even explaining any of this to herself much less Gatomon. She rested her back against the the door and slid down until she was sitting on the floor. She pulled her knees up close to her body and buried his face into her arms. Gatomon padded over to her as silent, as well...a cat.

"Snap out of it, Kari, and tell me what's wrong. There is nothing I can do unless you let the cat out of the bag, so to speak," Gatomon commanded in a no nonsense sort of tone that only cat like digimon seemed able to perfect.

Kari looked at Gatomon's big eyes, and knew there was no use in trying to push her away. The more you pushed, the more her claws would dig in and hang on. "Fine," she said in exasperation. "I was out in front of the school and I saw Davis with some girl holding hands. Next thing I know, I'm running for all my worth." Straight to the point. No reason to make a short story long. "I don't even know why...," she started to say when she noticed Gatomon rolling her eyes. "What?"

Gatomon looked at her with half pity, half understanding. "Kari, you may be the smartest girl I know, but you are really dense sometimes." Kari started to retort, but Gatomon cut her off with a raised paw. "We both know why you freaked out. You just don't want to admit it to yourself."

Kari stared at her feline partner in confusion until the meaning of the words dawned on her. "Gatomon. Be serious!" Kari scowled at Gatomon, but Gatomon just stared at her. Her eyes unnerved Kari, but she knew her partner was being serious. Even more serious that ususal, as a matter of fact. "Gatomon, it's _Davis_," she said, putting emphasis on his name. "He's like a brother to me!" Even as she said that, she knew it wasn't true. She didn't feel the same about him as she did about Tai, or Matt, or any of the older digidestined. Even T.K. felt like a brother to her. People were always saying they would be a great couple, but Kari would no more date T.K. than she would her own brother. It wasn't even the same as it was for Ken or Cody, who felt like close friends. The image of him and the girl resurfaced, and she felt sick to her stomach. "And what if what you say is true, which I'm not saying it is, because it most certainly isn't, then what does it matter anyways?" Kari stared hopelessly up at the ceiling.

"How do you know it won't matter to Davis?" Gatomon inquired gently. Kari just shook her head, avoiding eye contact with her partner. After hesitating for a minute, Gatomon cleared her throat. "And believe it or not, I know something of how you feel. Maybe not all the extreme hurt, but I have similar feelings for a certain digimon."

"Patamon?" Kari asked, not even trying to sound surprised. She kinda figured that the tow of them might have feelings for each other. They had always been open with each other, but neither one of them were comfortable talking to each other about boys. It was kind of like a gray zone for the two partners.

Kari felt a sort of dark amusement bubble across her connection with Gatomon. "No, not quite," she said. Now, Kari was surprised.

"Who is it then?"

Instead of answering, Gatomon smiled at Kari somewhat sadly. "Isn't it odd, just how much our lives mirror each other? Both of us have our demons to deal with. We both were undercats at the beginning of our journey, and we both have proved how powerful we actually are. Now, even our hearts seem to be tied together."

Kari gasped. "You don't mean-"

"I do," Gatomon cut her off, matter of factly. "It was just after the battle with Malomyotismon. It was then that I realized just how good Veemon's heart is. Plus the resiliance he showed to Malomyotismon's power. Shortly after that, I found that my feelings were growing stronger. At first I tried to excuse it as admiration, but eventually I accepted the fact. Digimon try not to live in self denial, unlike humans. "

"You've...known all this time...a and not only haven't you told me...but you haven't even told Veemon, have you," Kari accused.

"Of course not," Gatomon answered crossly. "I said I didn't live in self denial. I didn't, however, say i wasn't a scaredy cat." She made a face as she said those words. Usually, she hated the expression, so for her to use the expression on herself, Kari knew how much Gatomon hated being scared. "I'm a digimon of light, not of courage, anyways," she said defensively.

Kari shook at her head at Gatomon. "That is a terrible excuse, Gatomon."

Gatomon narrowed her eyes, obviously pleased. "At least I'll admit it. I can feel through your emotions that you still deny it."

"I deny it because it isn't true," she replied half heartedly. Even she didn't believe herself, and there was no use it trying to convince Gatomon otherwise. She couldn't admit to herself, not on the outside anyways. Deep inside, however, she knew it to be true. It was the only explination that made any sense. Plus, something about the accusation just felt...right. Not that she would admit it. Gatomon just started at her teenage partner with those unbelieving cat eyes, and Kari avoided her gaze.

"By the way," Gatomon said, apparently deciding to drop the subject," speaking of Davis, you have messages from him on the D-terminal calling for a group meeting tonight."

Kari looked up surprised. Gatomon sprang backwards, doing a summer salt in the air and landing on Kari's bed. He grabbed the rectangular terminal and sprang back to Kari, all in a matter of seconds. Kari was used to her partner's spryness, so she didn't even bat an eye at Gatomon's acrobatics. She accepted the terminal and quickly read the messages. She didn't know how she felt about seeing Davis after what had just happend. Even now that she had calmed down, the mental image of him and the girl caused her pain, and made her sick to her stomach.

"We have to go," Kari said, looking at Gatomon. It was more of a question than a statement, but her partner shot down any hope she had had of obstaining.

"He wouldn't have called the meeting for no reason. Even if it's just a heart to heart with everyone, I believe we need to be there. If we don't, he'll think we have scorned him. And even if it hurts for you to be near him right now, pushing him away is something you certainly don't want to do. Not to mention that I have a strange feeling that something is going to happen tonight, for good or ill, I don't know. Call it a sixth sense."

Even after all this time, Kari still couldn't get used to just how well her partner knew her, nor how her partner was always able to see to the heart of the situation. Out of all the partnered digimon, Gatomon was by far the wisest and most sensible, most likely to the hard life she had been forced to live before her and Kari had met. Going through experiences like that never left you unscarred.

"Fine," she finally sighed as she started typing out a message to Davis.

* * *

Davis walked Melody down the street towards her house. He was relieved that it was finally over. Not that he hadn't enjoyed himself, it had just been difficult to concentrate ever since he had seen Kari running away. He couldn't keep the worry away, just as he couldn't keep the sense of foreboding away, which had resurfaced soon after he and Meolody had resumed their date. Even despite both of these feelings, Davis couldn't help but have a brighter mood than he had in a while. When he was able to pay attention to Melody, past both of the worry and foreboding, she had kept him laughing, which was very welcome, given the circumstances. What wasn't welcome was the similarities that Davis kept noticing between Melody and Kari. Thier appearance was similar, as well as thier sense of humor. Even the way they walked were alike.

"Well," she said as they stopped in front of her apartment building. "Here we are again. Almost like de ja vu, isn't it?"

Davis chuckled. "Seems that way, it does. At least this time we didn't run into each other." He winked at her as she laughed. "I guess you should be going."

"Yeah," she said, as she looked behind her at the door before turning back to Davis with a thoughtful expression on his face. At first, Davis was scared that she was about to invite him in. He on no account wanted to meet her parents. But what she did next was almost as bad, if not worse. She stood up on tip toes, put her arms around his neck, and brought her lips up to his. Davis's eyes closed and he wrapped his arms around her waist. It wasn't a very long kiss, just a few seconds, but that's all it took for Davis to come to a realization.

This wasn't going to work. The moment thier lips met, a sense of wrongness seemed to settle on his sholders. In his minds eye, it wasn't Melody that he was kissing. It was Kari.

She broke away and quickly retreated to the door. She turned back when she reached it, her face alight with a scarlet blush and happy smile. "See you later Davis." She seemed oblivious to his blank stare.

Davis stared at the door for a while before he started to walk away. His walked down the street with a slow pace, his hands in his pockets. It wasn't fair. A chance at being happy, and his heart wouldn't let him. It was frustrating, but Davis didn't really know what else to do. He loved Kari. Completely, unconditionally. That wasn't something you could just ignore or turn away from. Not that he wanted to, but he knew he couldn't stay stuck on her forever. Unrequited love was a curse that no one should endure, especailly for the rest of thier life. There was nothing he could do about it anyways.

He had an hour to kill until the meeting. He knew he had to go talk to Kari about the meeting, but after what he had just experienced, he just didn't feel like it. But he knew he had to. Kari and Gatomon were part of the team, and everyone had to be there. With the fate of the worlds in thier hands, the whole team had to come together as it always had to destroy the darkness that threatened to engulf them.

He wasn't eager to get to her there, so he took as long as possible to get to the apartment, and by the time he did, it was just 20 minutes until the appionted meeting time. _Well, here goes nothing, _Davis thought, forcing down the nervousness that bubbled in his stomach. He raised his hand to knock, and almost simultaneously, the door swung open, and there was Kari, looking almost as surprised as Davis felt.

"D-Davis," the girl stammered. "What are...what are you doing here?" Dismay was written all over her face. There was no happieness in her voice, or even indifference. It was obvious by her tone and body language that this was an unwelcome and unwanted surprise. A mountain of hurt seemed to fall on him, but after so much practice at hiding the pain that he had grown accustomed to, he doubted whether it even registered on his face.

"I came to tell you that the team was having a meeting tonight," he replied, biting his lower lip. I sent you a couple of messages, but you never replied..." he trialed off, not knowing what else to say.

"But I did reply to your message Davis. I told you I'd be there," Kari said stiffly.

Davis stared at her blankly before pulling out his D-terminal. "But I thought..." Davis stared in horror at the devise in his hand. _**You have one new message: From-Kari Kamiya**_, the screen read. Davis looked from the message to Kari and back. "I'm sorry, Kari. I-I didn't mean to bother you." Kari seemed to wince at his words.

"No, don't be," she said, with a forced half smile that looked more like a grimace. "I was just surprised is all."

Davis stared at her for a moment, and started to feel his heart throb, each beat bringing another wave of pain. "Well, let's go, I guess," he said looking at the floor. "Where's Gatomon at?" he asked, noticing the feline's absence for the first time.

"She's meeting us there. She prefers to go on her on power." She closed the door and started walking away quickly, leaving Davis to catch up on his own. Davis felt Demiveemon wince at her words, and knew his pride had been wounded. Davis knew that Veemon disliked being carried around all the time, but it was the only way that he could travel in public. Although everyone knew about the existence of digimon, not many were actually aware that some still dwelled in the real world. If they were to see one, it would only cause problems, and Veemon was just too conspicuous, with his blue color. Gatomon on the other hand, could fit in with relative ease, as long as no one got a close look at her.

_You know she doesn't mean anything by it, _Davis thought at Demiveemon, trying to soothe his wounded pride.

_I know, but I just hate having to do this whenever I want to go out. Do you know how hot it gets in here? I feel like I'm about to spontaneously combust into Flamedramon! _The little blue digimon thought/grumbled back at him. Despite eveything, and that was a lot of things to spite, Davis felt a grin stretch across his face, which he quickly tried to hide. He could sense a small amount of amusement emenate from his partner through their mental link as well.

Davis glanced over at Kari just in time to catch her looking at him sideways, with a gaurded expression. She looked away the second their eyes met, and a faint blush colored her face, so faint in fact, that Davis wasn't entirely certain that he actually had saw it. "What were you running from earlier," Davis blurted out, without really meaning to ask.

Kari almost tripped over her own feet. "Oh. You saw that," she said so softly that Davis assumed she was talking more to herself than to him. "It was nothing," she said a little louder. Davis noticed that she didn't seemed surprised that he was even around, and somehow, he knew she knew he was ther. After that, Kari took on an uncharacteristically stoic silence, which stretched on all the way out of the apartment and halfway to the park. Finally Davis couldn't take it anymore.

"Ok, do you have a probelm with me?" he asked bluntly and without warning.

Kari stopped abruptly. "What?" she demanded. "Why would you even ask that?"

"Why would I ask that? Oh, I don't know," he said sarcastically. "Maybe it's the fact that you've been treating me like an Ogremon since the moment you saw me at your door! Hell, even before that! Was it really 'nothing?' Cause I'm starting to think it was me." He didn't mean to make it sound so harsh, but the last months of neglect, and the last two days of worry, stress, and confusion had taken its toll on Davis, and he couldn't keep either the hurt or anger out of his voice.

Kari looked like he had just ran over her with a truck. "How can you even say that, IMPLY that?" Her voice contained an ocean of hurt, but she wouldn't meet his eyes.

"It was, wasn't it?" Davis demanded. "You can't even look me in the eyes and tell me that it wasn't!"

"Not stuck on yourself at all, are you?" she asked, her eyes lighting up in anger. "Just because I was running doesn't mean it was away from you or because of you! The world doesn't revolve around you, gogglehead!"

"Oh, don't you think I know that," Davis said, his voice starting to rise. "I know that better than you, or anyone besides Veemon! Both of us had to face that when our friends ABANDONED US!" Davis's voice had risen to a shout on the last two words, and he knew he was being unreasonable. He had never thought the world revolved around them, but right now, he was too angry to care. Kari stared at him dumbfounded. "And I don't believe you! We're supposed to be friends, Kari!"

This, apparently was the wrong thing to say. Rage filled her face, and her hands were visibly shaking. "Friends? FRIENDS? Like the way _friends_ tell other friends when they start dating some chick who you only go out with cause she bats her eyes at you hangs all over you in public?"

At first she didn't seem to realize what she had said, but when she did, the most mortified look Davis had ever seen. Davis himself was to shocked to even utter a sound. The silence that hung between them was like the silence after a storm. They stared at each other, both in thier on states of shock. They had had squabbles before, but very rarely and never like this. No conversation with them had ever been this emotionally packed.

Kari turned and started walking away as fast as she could in the direction of the partk, but not before Davis saw the tears leaking from her eyes. "Oh, Davis," Demiveemon said, poking his head out of the bag. They both watched as she dissapeared around the corner, and it wasn't until then that Davis realized that his eyes were wet too.

Davis slowly continued down the street tyring get control over himself. The rest of the group didn't need to see him like that.

* * *

Kari sped away fighting her pain and anger. She couldn't control the sobs that racked her body. Her mind couldn't process what had just happened. Her and Davis had never fought. No matter how mad one would get at the other. Their words echoed in the recesses of her mind.

She had never really realized just how much Davis had felt shunned by the group, although now that he had said something about it, Kari could see how much they really had been pushing away from him. Every single one of them had been blowing him off for something else or other for the past few months. She couldn't believe she hadn't been able to see how much pain he'd been in. Even if he had been that good at hiding it, Kari should have known. She should have done something. She shouldn't have let him down. There was no hiding the pain now.

Kari stopped in the alley next the park, out of sight for anyone who was already there, and dried her tears. She hadn't mean to get angry, but her own pain seemed to fuel some fire inside her. She had had no idea just how hurt she had been about Davis and the girl. Something in her had just snapped, and before she had known what she was saying, the words had spilled out. There was no deluding herself about why she was so upset, not now. The fight had made one thing clear to Kari. Whether she liked it or not, whether she even admitted it out loud or not, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was in love with him. She had never felt that much raw emotion before.

She wiped away the last stray tears before taking a deep breath. Slowly her breathing calmed down, and she pulled herself together. She never let anyone see her weak, beside Gatomon, and on the occaision at the Dark Ocean, T.K., and that wasn't about to change. It would be hard to be around Davis right now, but she could last through the meeting. She sighed, feeling how puffy her eyes were. There was nothing she could do about that, but hopefully the darkness would hide it for her.

* * *

Davis arrived exactly at 6:30. Everyone else was already there, including Kari, who was standing away from the others next to the swings with Gatomon on her lap. Gatomon looked over knowingly at Davis as he came in sight, but he detected no malice from the cat's eyes, but that didn't mean that the cat digimon wasn't mad. Kari looked up at Davis, and the two made eye contact for a split second before each averted there eyes. T.K. and Cody were both sitting on top of the monkey bars, seeming to have an enjoyable conversation. Ken and Yolei were sitting side by side on a park bench holding hands. The sight of the young couple had used to make Davis smile. Now it just made his heart ache. The rest of the digimon all were playing around on the slide, laughing and having a good time. Demiveemon jumped out of his bag and quickly digivolved.

"Well look at who decided to finally show up," T.K. said with a grin. "Aren't you the one who set this up anyways? I woulda thought you would have been the first here."

Davis tried and failed terribly to smile. "I, uh, got caught up with something." He made a point not to look at Kari, who he knew was probably doing the same.

"Well, Davis, it's been a while," Cody called, waving. The younger kid had shot up in height the past few years. Although he was years yonger, he was almost the same height as Davis, T.K., and Ken. He already rose above the two girl digidestined.

"Ok, Davis, so whats the deal, huh?" Yolei demanded, cutting straight to the point. She had a peeved expression on her face. "Me and Ken were supposed to have a date later tonight."

Ken smiled apologetically at Davis. "Sorry about her. She was really looking to seeing that new horror movie that's out."

_Well, she'll soon have more horror than she knows what to deal with, _Davis thought to himself. Davis looked down at Veemon, who gave him a curt nod. "We may have trouble, guys," he said, catching everybody's attention. Without preamble, Davis launched into the explination about the evil digimon who had body snatched him. His friends listened to him expressionlessly, and when he was done, they all stared at him, Kari excluded. She still wouldn't look at him.

"Davis," Ken said hesitantly, the first one to speak. "That sounds a little...farfetched." Yolei was nodding in agreement.

"So?" Davis asked, disappionted at the way they were responding. "We've delt with the farfetched before. And we've dealt with digimon that powerful before as well."

"Well, you gotta admit, Davis, it doesn't seem very plausibe," T.K. spoke up. "In the past, the digiworld was already in chaos when a threat would present itself. I don't know about any of you, but I haven't heard of any dissastors happening recently," he said looking around at the others.

"No, and me and Patamon were in the digiworld all last week," Armodillomon commented," and neither of us saw anything out of the ordinary."

"None of my contacts have said anything about there being any disturbances either," Stigmon added, from next to Ken.

"Are you calling us liars?" Veemon said, anger entering his voice.

"Of course not, Veemon," Cody said, a look of paitence on his face. "We're just saying that under the circumstances, this threat of yours seems illogical."

Davis stared at his team in horror. "So...none of you believe us." Nobody seemed to be able to meet his eyes. "You don't," he gasped.

Yolei looked at him with pity. "It's just that it's so outlandish. Are you sure you weren't just dreaming all of this?" She seemed to hesitate before continuing. "Is...is this about us not spending any time with you, Davis? It kinda sounds like a cry for help."

Davis and Veemon stared at Yolei in astonishment, and just like that, the anger that had consumed him not half an hour ago was back. This time, he felt Veemon's anger mirrored back at him through their connection, making him twice as angry. "You know what? There used to be a time when you trusted me," he began in a deadly voice. "I led you against every dark digimon that threw itself at us, and you trusted me in the dream diminsion when we battled MaloMyotismon. Now it's like we're not evn friends. You ignore me and you act like you have no faith in me. Me and Veemon are tired of it. I stopped being the leader of the team when you stopped needing me. I stopped being **part **of the team when you guys stopped trusting me." He looked around at all of them. All of their mouths hung open in shock. "And you can all take the team and shove it. Cause me and Veemon are out of here." Davis turned his back on his now ex-team and started walking away.

Veemon stayed behind for a moment, long enough to glare at all of them. "In other words, WE QUIT," were his last words to them before he turned and caught up with his partner.

**Please reveiw. I wanna know what ya think. :)**


	7. Love Bites

**Hey again, guys. First off, I'd like to thank everyone who has read my story, and double thanks to those of you who have reviewed it. This chapter was a little slower in coming than the others, mostly because of me being distracted and being busy. My writing got a little sloppy towards the end of this chapter, but due to a slight writers block, I wrote it the best I could think to. I hope everyone enjoys the next chapter. Still gonna be a pretty emotional chapter. Read and Review :)**

* * *

The digidestined stared at Davis and Veemon's retreating figures, each at different levels of shock. Ken looked like he was literally about to fall over, and for once, Yolei was speachless. All of the digimon had sad looks upon their faces, as if they had expected this was coming.

Kari hadn't thought the night could get worse. Boy, had she been wrong. The whole situation had been like a time bomb, waiting for the right moment to detonate, and apparently, that moment was now. What bothered Kari the most was that she _had_ believed Davis. She knew that no matter how scorned Davis would feel, he'd never make anything like that up just for the attention. But she hadn't been able to make herself come to his defense. Hell, she could barely make herself look at him, much less speak up on his behalf.

"What...what just happened?" Cody said, his voice sounding defeated. "What was all that about?"

"I don't know," Ken said, seeming to recover just a little. "I've never seen him explode like that. Not even when someone makes fun of his goggles. That was so unlike him. He's never been like that. What I want to know is why it came up so suddenly."

"It was almost like when Ken was infected with the Dark Spore," Wormmon spoke up. "He was always subject to random bursts of anger."

Kari couldn't help but scoff at them. "For a genius and his digimon, you're kinda dense."

"Care to explain that little statement of yours, Kari?" Yolei said angrily, breaking her silence. Ken looked at his girlfriend uncomfortablly.

"Calm down, hun. I'm sure Kari doesn't mean anything personal about it." He turned his eyes to Kari. "But apparently, she has all the answers."

"Well, not _all _the answers. Just the ones to his behavior," she replied, a faint embarrassed blush coloring her face.

"Then don't keep it to yourself, child," Hawkmon said glumly from a perch on an overhanging branch.

Kari didn't care to be called a child since she was almost 18, but she didn't dwell on it. Hawkmon referred to all of the 2nd generation digidestined as child. "Well, did you not listen to anything he said? He said that we ignored him and acted as if we had no faith in him."

T.K. shook his head in bewilderment. "And what's that supposed to mean? How have we ignored him?"

"Oh please!" Kari exclaimed in aggrivation. "When was the last time that any of you actually hung out with him? Ken? Cody? T.K.? How about any of you digimon? Seen Veemon lately?"

None of them seemed to be able to meet her eyes, or, as it seemed, her queries. "I saw him this morning and told him about Matt and Sora...," T.K. said, but even he could tell his defence was weak. "Granted, I only saw him for about five minutes."

"Exactly. Not to mention that all you, me, and Yolei all were supposed tonhang with him in the digital world the other day. And what did we do instead?" It had been a rhetorical question, but she waited for an answer regardless. When neither of her friends were forthcoming, she answered herself. "We blew him off to decorate for some stupid dance!" Kari couldn't keep the harshness out of her voice, but all of it was aimed at herself.

"Kari...," Yolei tried to say but couldn't seem to finish. Tears had started to well up in her eyes. Hawkmon flew down and put his wings around his partner. Ken rubbed her back soothingly. "We knew," Yolei finally choked out. "Me, Ken, even Hawkmon. Maybe all of us knew. But we didn't think of how it would make them feel. He's always been the constant of the team. Solid as a rock even if he was hot headed and stubborn. I don't know about any of you, but I always just figured he would take all of it with good humor." Her tears had finally started to spill over, and she wiped them away impaitently.

"That was a foolish notion," Gatomon said from the shadows. Thus far, she had yet to contribute to yhe conversation, and even Kari had temporarily forgotten her feline partner. "While Veemon and Davis are both stong, perhaps stronger than any of us, they are still just digimon and human. They have feel just as strongly as any of us. Not even the strong can stand forever. Especially when they stand alone."  
"What about you, Gatomon, and you, Kari," Armodillomon asked, not unkindly. "It sounds to me that you accuse us of something that you yourselves are guilty of. I don't mean anything by that, but just stop being so hard on everyone when the ones you're really mad at are yourselves."

_Ok, that hurt,_ Kari thought, wincing. "I...I'm sorry everyone. Armodillomon is right." She stared at the ground in shame. It was hard to read Gatomon's expression, but Kari felt the same shame from her.

"I know what your problem is," Patamon said. "Both of you are trying to put all the blame on yourselves, when all of us are at fault here. I don't think there is right or wrong in this situation. Maybe what we've done to them is wrong, but so is what they just did."

"That's the thing, though, Patamon," Ken said quietly. "For Davis, it might not be right or wrong, but maybe it was the only way. Honestly, who knows how long he's felt like this? For all we know, this has been coming for months. I for one know that if I were in the same position, I wouldn't have lasted half as long."

A long silence fell upon the digidestined and their digimon as each of them were absorbed in their own thoughts. After what seemed like an eternity, Cody spoke up. "Do you think he actually meant it? Quitting, I mean?"

"You can never tell with Davis," T.K. said wearily. "This is the first time I've ever seen him that mad or hurt. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually did mean it. We'll have to corner him and apologize." He sighed unhappily. "Right now, lower than dirt. I saw him just this morning, but I barely took any time for him. Just long enough to tell him about the wedding. I had more time to spare, I just didn't want to."

"Look, this is getting us nowhere," Gatomon said impatiently. "Somewhere out there is two of our friends, and they are hurt. We need to find them _now. _Later may be too late. At least one of us needs to go talk to him."

"Guys, Gatomon is right," Patamon said. "Those two are more than just friends. They're our family." Nobody disputed this statement. It did seem that they were all like family after so much they had experienced.

"We're forgetting something here," Cody said, looking around at the team. "What about this threat that Davis told us about." Cody may have been the youngest on the team, but he was ever the voice of reason.

This seemed to shut everyone all seemed to fall in an embarrassed silence. Kari looked around at her friends incredulously. "You're kidding me, right? After all of that, and you still don't believe him? What the hell is wrong with all of you?"

"C'mon, Kari. Are you saying you actually do believe him about this?" Ken asked.

"Damn straight!" Kari said angrily. "I have every reason to trust him, and none not to. You know, he was right about one thing. You have absolutely no faith in him."

"There she goes getting mad again," T.K. said under his breath. He stared at Kari as if he could reach into her mind and pull out her reasons for sticking up for Davis so fiercely. Kari blushed under the intensity of his gaze. He probably didn't realize it, but he looked at her like that a lot. T.K. wasn't all that good at hiding his emotions like Davis was. T.K. was as open as a book. Everyone knew that he was interested in her, whether he meant them to or not. Either way, it worked in his favor, strategically speaking. People always pestered her about it. On more than one occasion she had considered giving in just to make them leave her alone. She didn't feel that way for T.K. at all. It never turned into anything though. Every time she started to say something to T.K., she was never able to go through with it.

One time in particular, not that long ago in fact, she had been on the verge of asking him out. It had been one of the rare digidestined picnics. Actually, now that she thought about it, it was the last time that they had all been together at one time, before that night. She had been mentally preparing herself to do it, when fate had apparently decided to step in. Or rather fall out of a tree in the form of Davis, who had been attempting to climb said tree to the top. Luckily for him, he hadn't gotten far. He had grinned sheepishly at her, an embarrassed smile that had made her heart flutter. All thought of asking out T.K. vanished from her mind as she helped him up. At the time, she had dismissed it as amusement. Now she knew better.

All of this ran through Kari's mind in the matter of seconds. She pulled her mind away from those thoughts and concentrated back on the conversation. "Oh, Kari, please give me a break," Yolei said. "You can't actually belive something as wild as that can you?"

"I can and do," Kari growled between clenched teeth. "What i can't believe is all of you! Davis has never lied to you before, and now you think he is?"  
"Hey, I never said that!" Yolei exclaimed.

"Might as well have," Kari shot back.

"The only reason you're even defending him is because you feel bad for him anyways!" Yolei yelled.

"Yolei," Kari said in a dangerously calm voice. "You have already made one friend mad today. Lets not try for two." Yolei's mouth dropped open. Kari had never acted this way to her. "I believe Davis because he is my friend."

"Then why didn't you speak up on his behalf when it actually mattered?" Yolei's voice was full of hurt and hostillity.

Kari opened her mouth a few times, trying to get the words past her unyielding throat. Somehow, Yolei had hit Kari right where it hurt. She had said the same thing Kari had been thinking the entire time. Finally she was able to choke out," I had my reasons." She didn't look at anyone, but she could almost physically feel there doubtful stares.

"We're getting nowhere with this," T.K. said, changing the subject. "I don't believe it, but there is no harm in giving Davis the benefit of the doubt. Even if this so called threat was just a nightmare, it won't hurt for us to check out the digital world."

The others nodded in agreement. "Well someone needs to go talk to them," Cody sighed. I would myself, but I have to get back to the computer shop and catch up on some work."

"Yeah, and Yolei and I are going out to see that movie," Ken said regretfully. "That is, if you still want to?" He looked at his girlfriend questioningly.

"Might as well," she replied with a gloomy sort of voice. "This is the only night we'll have for a while, plus, I need a distraction. I doubt Davis wants to see either of us at the moment. More so than the others anyways."

"And my mom is expecting me home soon. I told her I wouldn't stay out past 7:30, and by the time I'd get to his house, I'd have to turn around and start right back," T.K. said, scratching the back of his head. There was something in his voice that unsettled Kari. Everyone looked at her expectantly. Except for T.K., who looked away, as if he suddenly didn't want to meet her eyes.

_Oh damn, _Kari thought. She hadn't expected this, hadn't thought about it at all when she had pushed for them to talk to Davis. She exchanged a look with Gatomon and knew they were both thinking the same thing. To back out now would be to say that she didn't really mean any of the things she had said in Davis' defense. "Ok, I'll go," she said simply and as nonchalantly as she could, although inside she was screaming in desperation.

"No!" T.K. exclaimed, much to everybodies suprise.

"But why not T.K.?" Cody asked. "She's been the biggest supporter of Davis in this little squabble of ours. And if she doesn't mind, I don't see what the problem is."

Yolei was looking back and forth between Kari and T.K., studying each of their faces. Her eyes widened behind her glasses as if a realilization had just struck her. Her mouth fell open slightly which coupled with the shocked look on her face would have been almost comical in other circumstances.

Dread seemed to settle in the pit of Kari's stomach. _She knows! And I bet T.K. knows too! Am I really that obvious?_

"Never mind. It's nothing," T.K. mumbled.

"Ok? Well now that that's settled, I'll see you all later." Cody turnerd and walked away with Armodillomon in tow. Ken and Yolei likewise departed while Wormmon and Hawkmon made their way back home. None of the 'destined really worried about them, as the two were able to sneak around better than Veemon, Patamon, or Armodillomon, each whose features were uncommon. Hawkmon's only problem was his color, and in the darkness, that wasn't an issue. Wormmon was cunning, and he would find a way to disguise himself. That just left T.K. and Kari alone with thier partner digimon.

"I don't suppose you're gonna tell me what all this is really about." T.K.'s face was partially hidden in the darkness, but the little of what Kari could see look weary.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kari replied feigning cluelessness. "What is what really about?"

T.K. rolled his eyes and sighed. "Don't. I'm too tired to be trying to guess whats going on. Beside, none of the things I think seem very likely."

Kari turned away from her best friend and started walking towards the park exit. She could hear T.K.'s footsteps as he paced himself to catch up with her. "You're out of your mind. All that's going on is Digidestined Drama Hour."

"Yes, there is drama, but theres more to it than meets the eye," T.K. said stubbornly. "I know you too well to believe there isn't."

"We weren't hatched yesterday, ya know," Patamon chimed in, flying next to T.K.

Kari gave T.K. a withering look. "Then apparently you don't know me as well as you think you do. Don't you think I would tell you if something was wrong."

T.K. didn't even hesitate before he answered. "No, actually, I don't. I know you're hiding something from me, Kari."

She tried to look hurt at the accusation, but wasn't completely sure of the results. Either way, it didn't convince the blonde haired teen walking next to her. "Maybe you should go gert a reality check. There's absolutely nothing wrong. I'm just having a bad day," Kari said.

"Must've been terrible. Bad enough to make you cry anyways." Kari stopped in her tracks as if she had just run into a brick wall.

"Damn it!" Kari yelled, angry that he had actually noticed. Usually, she was against profanity. But right now, she was too emotionally worn out to even care. "Just leave me alone T.K.! If I wanted to tell you, then I would. But I don't, so lay off." She started to storm away angrily.

"Was it because of Davis?" T.K. called after her. Most wouldn't have been able to hear the anger in his voice, but Kari knew him so well that he might as well have yelled.

"What part of lay off DON'T you understand," Kari said, whirling around to find him right behind her, making her run into him. She looked up into his eyes and quickly back peddled. He wore the same intense expression from earlier. His eyes searched hers, like he was trying to dig out the answers that she refused to tell him. He also wore a slight frown as if those answers weren't coming like he wanted them to, giving Kari an irrational sense of satisfaction.

"Leave her alone, T.K.," Gatomon said, placing a protective paw on her partners hip, which was as high as she could reach.

"Maybe we should stay out of this Gatomon," Patamon said as he landed next to the feline. "If it comes down to anything, then these two will need to duke it out themselves."

"We won't have to 'duke it out,' Patamon, if your partner will just leave me alone!" Kari snapped. "Just because we're friends doesn't mean I have to tell you everything. Stop acting so possessive! It's just like Davis was when we were in-," she stopped in mid sentence, the meaning of what she was about to say dawning on her.

T.K. looked outraged. "You're comparing me to him? I am not acting like he did at all!"

"Uhhhhhh, T.K.? Ya kinda are," Patamon said innocently. "Can't let you deny that one."

T.K. glared at his partner. "You're not helping here, you know!"

On any normal occasion, Kari would've been amused by the two of them. Neither one would let the other get away with anything. They never let themselves live in self denial. But right now wasn't the time. Kari had so many emotions boiling within her that she felt that if she didn't find a release soon, she'd explode. "It doesn't matter, ok? Just stop doing it. I've got to go, if I'm going to talk to Davis before tomorrow."

"This all has something to do with him! I know it does. I saw the way you looked at him when he got there. I've never seen you look at anyone like that. Like the very sight of him made you want to yell, cry, and smile all at the same time." T.K. looked down at his feet, a kind of sorrowful certaintly on his face. "You love him, don't you," he mumbled so softly that Kari wasn't sure she had actually heard him. But she had. Kari didn't answer. She couldn't answer. Her silence seemed to answer his question. "I thought so. Who would've thought you would have picked the goggle head over me," he said bitterly.

"T.K...I..." Kari tried to say but couldn't finish. The look of pain on his face was unbearable.

"I'll see you later Kari." T.K.'s voice had taken a monotonous tone, but his eyes shone brightly in the dim light with unshed tears. He turned and walked away with his hands in his pockets. Patamon looked at Kari in confusion before flying after his partner. It was obvious that the broken hearted boy would need some comfort.

Kari watched him walk away, feeling miserable. _Way to go, slugger, _Kari thought to herself in shame. _Not only have I gotten unreasonably mad at all of my friends, but I have to go and break my best friends heart without even meaning to. Not to mention pushing Davis away as well. _"Love bites," she said out loud.

"That it does, Kari. That it does," Gatomon replied sadly as she too watched T.K.'s image disappear into the darkness.

* * *

As Davis and Veemon stormed away from the group, he couldn't help but choke back a sob. No tears spilled from his eyes, held back by the power of self restraint that he had erected around himself that didn't let his emotions run loose. The tears that he held back were full of months and months of bitterness and anguish. Mixed in with that was deep sense of betrayal that now weighed down his footsteps and the anger that surged through his viens. Plus the regular pain that he had come to associate with Kari, which was now more painful than ever. A lot about the last hour bothered him, but nothing more so than seeing Kari cry. He had caused that, and that was unforgivable.

Veemon wasn't doing much better. Worse, probably. Davis did have some friends outside the group. None who were close or he actually cared about, but the were there. Veemon had no friends here in the real world aside from the digidestined and their digimon. Through the bond they shared, it was impossible to tell where Davis' heartache ended and Veemon's began. It was more of less just one giant mosh pit of emotions.

Neither of them talked on the way home. There was no reason to. No words that could say what needed to be said, nor any comfort that one could give the other. Veemon didn't bother de-digivolving. It was dark, and no one was around. If they were seen, no one would be the wiser. So they both just concentrated on getting home. It was a fifteen minute walk, but at the pace they were going, they would be able to shave off about five minutes from that time.

They were just two blocks away from his home when a voice called out his name , her voice eerie in the quietness. A very familliar voice. Davis quickly motioned for Veemon to hide before turning around to see a small figure emerging from the surrounding gloom. "Davis, that you?" Melody asked, uncertainty in her voice.

"Hey, Melody. Yeah, it's me." _Unfortunately, _he added to himself. _Why on earth did I have to turn on this street! _

Melody noticed Davis' less than enthusiastic welcome. "Something wrong? You sound upset, Davis."

"It's nothing. Me and some of my friends just had a minor disagreement. I'd love to stay and talk, but I gotta go," he said dismissively, choosing to ignore the dissapointment on her face. He had enough problems to worry about at the moment. Now wasn't the time to feel bad for something so insignifigant.

"Oh, ok. I thought for a minute you had maybe came to see me of something. Even if we saw each other a couple of hours ago." She shrugged with a small frown. "Oh well, see ya later." She turned to go.

Davis sighed. He couldn't help taking pity on her, espeacially when he himself had been shunned by friends. "Yo, Melody. I'm sorry. I'm just in a really, really bad mood, and I don't feel like talking. Besides, the way I feel right now, I'd be likely to bite your head off for no reason at all."

She looked back at with what appeared to be sincere concern for him. "I guess I understand. I've been like that before. But you can always talk to me if you need to. I'd be glad to listen."

Davis forced a small smile. "Yeah, I know. But now just isn't the time. I'll see you later, ok?"

"Alright," she said and quickly gave him a hug. "Hope you start feelin better." She walked back the way she came, but Davis didn't stay to see if she made it home ok. The second she had turned away, he had set off again, signaling Veemon mentally that the coast was clear.

"Yeah, that's likely," Davis mumbled sarcastically under his breath.

"That was her?" Veemon asked as he approached. "She looks a lot like Kari, ya know. Face is a little different, but other than that, they look a lot a like. Could be sisters if I didn't know better."

"You're really not helping right now, Vee." Davis said wearily as they continued on. "But thanks for the insight anyways, pal."

"Yeah," was the blue digimon's glum reply. "Davis? What are we gonna do now? We quit the team, but that thing is still out there. Do you think we can take it on alone?"

Davis looked at his partner grimly. "We'll have to. At the very least, we can find it and prove to the others that it exists. We won't join them unless we have to to defeat this guy. After that we'll go our seperate ways again. That's about our only options, as far as I can see it" They turned onto thier street and Davis looked up at the apartment. "Vee, I don't wanna go home," he said quietly. "Not right now. I'm way too worked up."

"But we have to, Davis," Veemon replied. He didn't sound any more eager than Davis did. "Your parents will worry if we don't. Besides, where else would we go?"

Slowly, an idea began to form in Davis' mind. "What if we can though...," he trailed off thoughtfully. "I already told them I was hanging out with the guys. What if I told them that they invited me to spend the night? I mean, hell. We used to do it all the time with just as little notice as now."

A spark of hope bloomed in Veemon's eyes before quickly fading. "That could work, but where would we go in the meantime?"

"How would you feel about spending the night in the Digital World?" Davis could see in Veemon's eyes how much the offer tempted him. They hadn't actually been to the digiworld in weeks. They must have planned dozens of times, but their friends had already adopted their habit of backing out. Davis knew that he missed his homeland terribly. Davis missed it too, but in different ways than Veemon. While Veemon missed it because it was the place of his birth and where he had lived, Davis missed it because when it came down to everything, the Digital World was the place that he had been happiest. But one thing in common they felt for the place was freedom. A place where Veemon didn't have to hide in a backpack of act like a stuffed toy and Davis could be free from pressuring parents and the expectations from his peers at high school.

"But what about school?" Veemon asked. Davis could practically see his partner's will crumbling. "If we go, it would be too risky to try and leave while people were around. If you oversleep or if anything happens, you won't be able to go.

"It'll be fine, buddy," Davis replied. "I just won't go. We can make the whole day about us." Veemon started to protest weakly but Davis cut him off. "We deserve it, Vee, you know we do, after the months we've had. Besides," he said, grinning mischieviously," it won't be the first time that I've cut school."

Veemon bit his lip, but Davis already knew what the answer would be. Finally his resolve collapsed and he glared playfully at Davis. "You know just how to get my goatmon, don't ya?"

"Hey, we are partners, aren't we?" Davis said triumphantly. "Give me a minute to work my magic," he said while he took out his phone and dialed his mom's cell. When she answered, Davis quickly told her the story that he had fabricated, stating that T.K. had invited him to spend the night. His mom wasn't happy that he had waited til last minute to call, but she sounded delighted that Davis was finally getting to see his friends more. He knew that she had worried about him and his friends relationship, but was tactful enough not to say it. Knowing this, Davis felt a surge of guilt.

When he finally ended the call, he and Veemon shared a look of excitement. They still felt all of their negative emotions. It was impossible not to, given all that happend recently, and deep down, both knew that they'd would have to deal with those demons. But right now, they reveled in the first positive feeling they had had in a long time.

They quickly backtracked, heading back towards the school and the only computers currently available to them. They weren't particularly worried about being caught, as the campus had never had any reason to instal security cameras since no one had ever tried to vandelize it. Plus, they knew of an entrance to the school that was always unlocked, a discovery they had made after the defeat of MaloMyotismon.

Davis took speacial care to skirt around Akarusa street as to avoid another possible run-in with Melody. He hadn't thought about it at the time, but he was kind of curious as to why she had been outside all alone. It was kind of creepy, the way she just seemed to appear out of the darkness. _Oh well, _he shrugged off the thought. They had almost made it all the way to the school when Veemon stopped suddenly, making Davis almost run into him. Davis looked at him questioningly, but the blue digimon just ignored him. Instead, he was staring straight ahead of him, an incredulous look on his face. Davis followed his line of sight and a second later realized why.

He could just make out the shape of a petite form of a girl, and a much, much, smaller form of a cat in the gloom. But Davis knew those outlines better than the back of his hand. Not to mention that the cat was standing on two feet, which was a dead give away. Davis stopped dead in his tracks.

"Ok, what is up with her today," Davis exploded, careful to be quiet enough so only Veemon could hear him. "I can't seem to get rid of her!" Normally this wouldn't bother him. But right now wasn't normally. "Do you think we should try to hide?" he asked his partner, unsure of what to do.

"No point," he replied sourly. "Gatomon already sees us. Why do cats have to have such good night vision?" It was a rhetorical question, obviously, so Davis didn't even try to answer. He couldn't anyways. Veemon must have knew what he was thinking because he turned an smirked at Davis before turning back to the approaching figures. "They were obviously on the way to our apartment. They are way to far from thiers, and heading in the right direction.

Davis crossed his arms when they got about two yards away. "What do you want," he demanded, not even trying to sound cordial. "How come you're here?"

Kari seemed to falter as she came closer. "I thought this was the way you'd come, and I was hoping I could catch you before you got home. I wanted to make sure you were ok."

For some reason, both him and Veemon found that darkly amusing. "Yeah, we're just peachy," Veemon chuckled sarcastically.

"Yeah, why would we not be ok," Davis added with fake cheerfulness. "Its not like our best friends stabbed us in the back...oh wait a minute, yes they did!" He frowned for a moment before plastering the fake grin on his face. "But no worries."

Kari looked down at her feet ashamed. "I'm sorry. You know that none of us meant to do that to you."

"We all feel bad about what happened," Gatomon chimed in. Davis noticed that her eyes were focused on Veemon, almost like she was drinking in every detail. Veemon wouldn't even look at her. Davis knew could feel how bad her presense upset and hurt him. It was just as much as he assumed he felt for Kari. Except Davis still had a touch of anger from the fight they had had earlier.

"Like it really matters," Davis scoffed. "Whether you meant to or not, you did. Its not like it wasn't what you all were thinking anyways. Its good to know where we stand after all this time."

"Both of you are important, not only to the team, but to each of us individually!" Kari said, desperately.

"Yeah right," Davis said in anger. "I've never been anything more than a joke to all of you. A friend, yes. But only for the comic relief. Never a friend that any of you would depend on. Except for Ken, and he's got Yolei now! And as for the team, the only reason we're important was for our strength. I was only leader by name except for when we fought MaloMyotismon. Our opinion and orders were never accepted by any of you. And neither me nor Veemon let it bother us, because we were friends. Our best friends."

Kari took a step back in shock. She couldn't believe that Davis was saying that, but more than that, she had a feeling he was right. They had always ragged on him whenever he made a stupid decision. Even after any one of them had done something stupid, Davis had supported them. He was also right that none of them depended on him. When they had problems and no one from the older Digidestined were available, they tended to take thier problems to T.K.

"You don't need us, none of you do! Everything has a breaking point, and me and Veemon found ours tonight. So don't even try to talk us back into the group or into forgiving you! Even now, I know you don't really believe us about the threat that contacted me! At most, you'll just look into it just to try and placate us! No, we're not coming back." Davis continued, his voice rising.

Kari felt tears rise behind her eyes, but she refused to let them spill. "But we do need you, Davis. I need you...," she said. She didn't mean to say that, but it just came spilling out.

Davis snorted. "Like I said earlier, yeah right. What do you or the tema need me for when you have the perfect T.K.? Give me a break."

"Davis, if you will just listen to what Kari is trying to say-" Gatomon started before being cut off by Veemon.

"Oh, I think we understand perfectly. You feel sorry for us. Well, we don't need your pity." Veemon said scowling.

"And how can you even say we're being bad friends when at least we tell you what happens in our lives," Kari said, finally trying to muster up a defence. "You didn't tell us about that girl-" This time it was Davis who cut the sentence short.

"Oh not that again! We're sorry for not being good enough or trustworthy enough to be a part of the team. We're sorry that we can't take any more. We're sorry that we feel betrayed by friends who shun and ignore us, and who lose faith in us after everything we've been throught. I'm sorry, Kari, that I didn't tell you about the girl when I couldn't anyways because you don't answer my messages. I'm sorry that I tried to move on and get over you because it just hurt so damn much to watch you every single day and have live with the knowledge that you don't feel the same way that I do about you! To watch you and T.K. who are 'destined' to be together. I'm sorry that I love you, because maybe then, the betrayal I feel wouldn't hurt SO DAMN MUCH!" He spun around and marched away, just as he had earlier, with Veemon on his heels.

Kari watched him leave, finally letting her her tears cascade down. "...did he say that he loved me?" Kari asked Gatomon, who for the first time that day, seemed to be just as shocked as Kari.

"I think he did, Kari," the cat digimon said.

* * *

Davis couldn't believe what he had just said. He had actually told Kari everything he felt, and in the worst possible way. Veemon tried to comfort him, but all Davis felt was numbness. He didn't say a word as they snuck into the school and made their way to the computer lab. They had come to a silent agreement to continue with the plan. Davis needed this more right now than ever before.

When they finally arrived, Davis went through the usual process of entering the digiworld, selecting the location for where he and Veemon first met. The cave would be a good place to rest for the night.

Not even being back helped his mood, and he trudged on in dark silence, trying not to dwell on what had just happened, which was about as likely as a Gotsumon sprouting wings and flying around. They made a fire in front of the cave and sat side by side staring into the flame. Davis was glad that Veemon was there to provide companionship. Without him, Davis didn't know what he would have done. Knowing himself, probably something self destructive.

They had been there for maybe an hour, when a scream split the air. Veemon and Davis shared a quick glace before jumping up and whipping into action. No matter how bad either of them felt, nothing could stop thier natural battle instincts from activating. Davis supposed he shouldn't be surprised, after the dream/vision/hijacking(?) he had had. "Digi Armour Energize!"

"Veemon armour Digivolve tooooooooooo Raidramon, Storm of Friendship!" Veemonn cried as he digivolved. Davis quickly climbed onto his back. The two of them had been together so long that they didn't even need to speak to know how the other would react.

The two of them raced towards the forest trying to pinpoint where it had come frome. Davis couldn't help but smile as adreneline pumped into his viens. Oh, how he had missed the action.

It took them all of two minutes to find where it had come from. The had no more gotten into the foliage than they saw a small human figure on the ground, unconcious, with her back to the air. Someone who Davis had just seen and ran away from. Dread and fear washed over him. _She must have followed me in_, he thought, and his lungs seemed to contract in fear. He leaped off of Raidramon before the digimon had came to a hault and ran over to the prone form. "Kari!" He screamed as he turned her over. But the face looking up at him wasn't Kari's. "M-Melody?" He said, stunned.

"Hello Daisuke Motomiya," she said in a voice that wasn't her own. "I've been waiting for you." Her eyes began to glow red and power seeped out of Davis' body, leaving him paralyzed. Out of the corner of his eye, Davis saw Raidramon slump down as well, as if he too had been drained of energy.

"You," Davis whispered. A darkness blacker than the night seemed to fall over him, and the last thing he remembered before losing conciousness was the evil laughter that he had heard just the night before.


	8. Where Are You?

**Well, it's taken me a lot longer this time. I'm getting distracted easily. Don't know how this chapter is gonna go over, cause I kept going back and changing things. I can only hope that everyone enjoys it anyways. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited the story. It really helps me push through when the writing is hard. Well, I hope you all enjoy. Review, and tell me what ya think. **

**Speacial thanks to luis014 for proofreading it for me. **

**Disclaimer: No matter how much I love the anime, I do not own it. So no suing, unless you really just have no life and feel like fighting a lost cause. **

"AAARRRGGGGGHHHHH," Kari screamed, sitting straight up in the bed. She was covered in a cold sweat, and her heart was pounding. She heard her parents move around in their sleep from the room next to hers, but she didn't think they woke up.  
"What is it, Kari?" Gatomon asked from the foot of her bed. "You nearly scared me out of my fur." There was a slight note of irritation in her voice, but it was overshadowed by the worry.

"I don't know," Kari gasped, her chest heaving. "It-it was like a nightmare or something. I don't remember details, just that Davis was there, and that there was something evil there."  
Gatomon cocked her head to the side. "Well, couldn't it just be a dream?"  
Kari slowly nodded her head. "Maybe. It just felt so real!" She couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. "Something doesn't feel right Gatomon. I can't explain it, but something just isn't right."

The cat-like digimon stared thoughtfully out the window. "Well, there isn't anything you can do about it now there is," she said reasonably. "Why don't we just wait till in the morning, and see what that brings."

Kari didn't want to admit it, but she knew her partner was right, even if part of her was screaming at her to get up and do something. She slowly relaxed back into her bed. "Alright, Gatomon. But I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

Kari stood outside the high school, staring expectantly (and somewhat impatiently) at the entrance that Davis usually used. She was terrified for his well being, after her dreams last night, but she was able to convince herself that he was ok. She was determined to straighten out a lot of things. And confirm some things, too. She had somehow miraculously been able to fall back to sleep after the initial nightmare, only to be plunged into another. There had been explosions and destruction, and a figure that stood in the shadows, laughing a harsh laugh, mocking her, challenging her to face him. She knew that this wasn't just a "run of the mill" nightmare. They had both just seemed so real, and the foreboding feeling from the dreams still haunted her. She knew she looked like hell, compared to her usual appearance. But to be perfectly honest, she didn't really care what anybody thought. Yesterday had been hell, and her reserve of tolerance was greatly depleted. Especially her tolerance over high-school drama bull shit.

She didn't know what she would say to Davis when he got there. Or T.K. and Yolei for that matter, but she knew she had to say something, not only about her dreams, but to apologize as well. Each of the encounters would bear their own varying levels of awkwardness. Kari knew that she had hurt Yolei's feelings yesterday, and there was little she could do about that, except apologize and hope that they could make things better. But T.K. and Davis were two completely different matter. She had hurt T.K. badly, and she knew it. There were better ways to have told him. More tactful, and ones that wouldn't have hurt him as badly. But he had pushed at the wrong time. Forced her hand.

And then there was Davis, the catalyst for the whole ordeal. That would be the hardest. In a way, all of this could be blamed on the goggle head. He was the one who had started the chain of events that led to where she was now. But she didn't blame him, because even if he was the one who caused the explosion (so to speak), he wasn't the one who ignited the flame. That rested firmly on the shoulders of her and the other Digidestined. She knew it and they knew it, and it was foolish to blame him for all of this. Not that he didn't deserve some of the blame. He could have come to them earlier, and without all the flash, even if the said flash was unintentional. Unfortunately, he was showing that famous Motomiya pride.

She didn't know what she would say to him. There was so much to be said. The biggest question on her mind was what he had said before leaving her in the street last night. Part of her couldn't, wouldn't, believe it. It just seemed to outlandish and foolish...and perfect. For the longest time, she hadn't even considered that Daisuke Motomiya could feel anything as serious as love. He had been the happy-go-lucky boy for as long as she could remember. Never anything but happy. Like he never had any problems. Now it seemed that she was seeing him in a clear light for the first time in a long time. She didn't know how long he had been hiding everything, but he wasn't the same annoying boy with a crush that he had been all those years ago. It unnerved her how much her view on him had changed in just the one day. And he had said that he loved her on the very same day that she herself realized how she really felt about him. She wasn't girly girl type. She didn't believe that any one person was destined to be with another. It was one thing that really irritated her when people talked about her and T.K. But a small part of her couldn't help but think, What if this is fate? I mean come on! The timing couldn't be better.  
Then there was the whole thing about leaving the team. Kari was dumbfounded that he would ever go that far. He was the heart of the team, for goodness sakes. He had been the most crucial member in so many situations it made the rest of them look bad. Since he had became a Digidestined, he had always been the trump card. From the very first time that Davis had entered the Digital World, he had shown his worth as part of the team. He and Veemon had saved her when no one else could, even though two of the most important people in her life had been present. If it hadn't been for Davis, she would be dead now. The all owed Davis their lives. For him to just up and quit...well, it could turn out more serious than any of them realized.

She was so preoccupied with her thought that she didn't notice that someone was coming behind her until he spoke. "Hey, Kari," the boy said nervously. "I thought you'd be here."

She flinched at the unexpected visitor and turned, trying to paste a weak smile on her face. "Hi, T.K.," she replied. She bit her lip, not knowing what to say. There was still a pained look in his eyes, but there was a determined look on his face.

"Look, Kari, about last night, I just want to apologize for the way I acted last night. I know I had no right to say the things I did. And while I'm not happy about your decision, I will respect it." His voice was grim but his words were sincere.

"T.K...," Kari smiled, overjoyed at the unexpected turn of events. She hadn't known what to expect with him exactly, but every scenario that she had pictured was a lost best friend and a cold shoulder. She still felt a little guilty about the sorrow in his eyes, but she knew he would be ok. He had a strong will, and he would find a way. "You don't know how much that means to me."

T.K. managed a small smile. "I hope I wasn't lowered in your books or anything. I just realized when I got home what a jerk I was being." He frowned a moment before continuing. "I might not be able to be with you two when you're together, but I'll always be there for you if you need me. And if he ever hurts you, me and Tai will beat the shit out of him."

Kari couldn't help but grimace, but not at his words. "You might not have to worry about that. The way he blew up yesterday, I'm not even sure if he'll talk to any of us. Especially me. Besides, I have a really bad feeling that something is wrong."

"What do you mean," he asked cautiously.

"I can't explain it. It's just a gut feeling. I had some nightmares last night, and in one of them, Davis was in trouble," she confessed.

T.K. knit his eyebrows together in worry. "I hope you're wrong Kari. I'll keep an eye out for him today, and spread the word to the others. If we don't find him, we'll just have to go and track him down.

Kari was about to respond when the start of school bell rang. She then started looking around in confusion as everyone started heading towards their first class. She hadn't realized that it was so late. She and T.K. both glanced at the door.

"You know Davis," T.K. said. "He's probably just running late like always." He didn't sound so sure though. More like he was trying to convince himself than Kari. He grimaced, realizing how hollow his words sound.

"Yeah, you could be right," she mumbled to herself, already knowing that it wasn't. She slowly walked towards her first class, staring back at the door until she rounded a corner and it was cut from her sight.

She wasn't able to concentrate at all during her first class. Every word that left her teacher's mouth fell upon deaf ears. Nothing she tried helped her pay attention. Her mind just kept slipping to the spiky-haired boy. She shifted uneasily in her chair until the bell rang, and for once, she was the first one out the door. She practically ran through the halls, looking for any sign of the goggled Digidestined. She was so absorbed in her self appointed task, that she almost didn't hear her name being called out over the din of the other students.

"Hikari Kamiya! Ms. Kamiya, may I speak to you please," an elder teacher called.  
Kari glanced from the teacher, who she now saw to be her literature teacher, Mrs. Yima, to the crowd and back again before hesitantly approaching the elderly woman. She was a nice lady, one of the few teachers who actually cared about her students. She went out of her way to be the best she could be for her students. She was the sponsor for many school groups with goals to reach out to kids who needed help. She was by far the best teacher in the school as far as morals went. Kari bowed slightly when she reached her, and forced a calm look onto her face.

"Yes Mrs. Yima? I don't mean to be rude, but I'm in kind of a hurry," she said politely.  
"Oh, it won't take long," she said, waving a hand in the air. "I was just wondering if Mr. Motomiya was feeling ok. He wasn't in class today, which is very unlike him. I was even going to have him read the part of Romeo in class today! I was wondering if you might know if he is well?" The second she had said "Motomiya," Kari's attention had snapped fully on the old woman.

"He wasn't in class?" she asked, before mentally kicking herself. That was a stupid question. Mrs. Yima had just said as much! "Um, I mean no. I don't know what's wrong." Dread settled in her stomach, her suspicions confirmed.

"Oh well," the teacher sighed. "I'm sure it's nothing serious anyways. If you talk to him, tell him that he was missed in class." She smiled at her pupil before she turned and walked towards the teacher's lounge.

"Damn it to hell," she cursed under her breath. "Davis, where are you?" Suddenly, a spark of anger ignited inside her heart. All the stress from the last two days exploded, and she snapped into a decision. "But I'll be damned if I sit around this place like a helpless little kid." She walked to the nearest exit in determination. The halls slowly emptied of students until Kari was the only one left. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure that no one was around to witness her impromptu departure, she exited the building and made a beeline straight towards the direction of the Motomiya residence. It was doubtful that he would be there, as it would be extremely foolish for him to be home when his parents arrived from work. But considering the time of day, there was an off chance that he would still be at home, possibly sleeping in. It was only just after first period after all, and the spiky haired teen had a history of sleeping the day away. He always said he was nocturnal.

It didn't take her long to reach her destination. It really wasn't all that far from the school, not to mention the fact that she had set a brisk pace. She waited impatiently for an elevator to arrive, pressing the button to his floor repeatedly until the doors slid closed. She tapped her foot in annoyance as she waited. "Do elevators usually take this damn long," she hissed out loud between clenched teeth. She was out the doors the second they started opening.  
She stopped in front of the door to his home and knocked without hesitation. She heard sounds on the other side, but no one answered. Scowling, she pounded the door as hard as she could, hurting her knuckles in the process, but she ignored the pain. "I know you're in there!" she yelled. "I can hear you!"

Almost immediately, the door was thrown open with an irritable looking girl glaring daggers at her. "What the hell do you want? Aren't you one of Davis' little friends? What was it? Yolei? Or Hi-something?"

"Uh...um...sorry Jun," Kari mumbled horrified at having shouted at the elder girl. "I thought you were Davis."

Jun eyed her suspiciously. "Why would you thing I was Davis?" Suddenly, it was like a light bulb switched on over her head. "Unless the little punk skipped school! He did, didn't he?" She cackled in glee. "Busted. Oh, the dirt I'm gonna have on him!"

"Um, Jun? Why aren't you at school?" Kari asked, curiosity getting the better of her for the moment. Jun was a college freshman, and from what little Davis had told her, Jun was going the same hours at college as they were in high school, and Davis' parents were very strict on her missing classes, as they were paying for her education. Jun's eyes darkened at the comment.  
"I could ask you the same question," she shot back angrily. "If you're looking for my brother, I don't know where he is. Ask your little boyfriend. He should know."

Kari stared at her confused. "Boyfriend?"

Jun just rolled her eyes and smirked. "Yeah, the little cutie that always follows you like a lost puppy. The blonde one? Matt's"-here she swooned slightly-" little brother?"  
Kari felt her cheeks warm. "He's not my boyfriend!" she said hotly. "Why would he know anyways?"

The older Motomiya sibling just rolled her eyes again. "Mom said that he spent the night at his house or something like that. If anyone knows where the little squirt is, then it's him. Bye," she said rudely, abruptly slamming the door in Kari's face.

`Kari stared at the door blankly. She thinks that Davis was at T.K.'s...? So he didn't come home last night, and nobody knows where he is...Oh, God. I have a terrible feeling about this. Davis, where ever you are, please be ok.

* * *

"Wakey, wakey, little Digidestined," a disturbingly familiar voice mocked, pulling Davis back into consciousness. The voice bothered him a great deal and he didn't know why. It sounded so familiar, but at the same time, completely alien. He allowed his mind to move away from that subject for now, and did a systems check. Nothing hurt, but he felt a bone deep weariness. Davis groaned and slowly opened his eyes, only to find that he was just as sightless with his eyes open as they were closed. He forced himself into a sitting position, and looked around. He was relieved to see Veemon lying next to him, who appeared to be unhurt. He too was stirring and moaning as he too woke up. It didn't surprise him that he could see his little blue partner. He already knew where they were. Well, sort of anyways. He didn't know exactly where they were, but he knew it was the same place that he and Veemon had been spirited away too the night before. He couldn't see where the voice came from, but he knew it had to be close.

Davis groaned. "This place again," he said through gritted teeth. Davis shivered. It was worse here than last time, and although the darkness seemed to be endless, somehow, Davis felt as if it was even larger than last time.

"What happened, Davis?" Veemon asked. "Why are we here? Did that thing capture us? Or are we dead? I don't feel dead, but who knows?" He tried to chuckle, but it sounded hollow to Davis' ears. He sensed through the connection that Veemon was just as scared  
and unnerved as he was. They were both also angry at being taken so easily. They hadn't even put up a good fight.

"You wouldn't be here if we were dead, buddy," Davis pointed out. "You would be reconfigured. But yeah, we were captured," he answered his questions grimly. "I know you're there! You might as well come out and gloat, you son of a bitch!" he called out into the darkness.

Davis expected for the giant red eyes to appear, or for the seemingly omnipotent voice to speak perhaps. So he was completely unprepared when a significantly more softer and human voice spoke from behind him. "Tut, tut," the voice mocked. "Such awful language."Davis whirled around and stopped cold, his eyes trying to process what he was seeing in front of him.

"You really ought to keep a civil tongue. What would your mother say?" the voice continued, humor evident in his voice at the expression on Davis' face.

"Davis?" Veemon said from his side, his eyes bulging from their sockets.

Davis shook his head, unable to answer. His mind had completely short circuited. The being in front of him was without a doubt the same being that had stolen him and Veemon the night before. This was confirmed not only by the voice, but by the glowing red eyes. The same aura of evil still clung to the figure in front of him. Except this time, he was in the form of a human. And not just any human.

"Ah, so the plot thickens," the figure smirked. A very familiar smirk. With a very familiar face. And the same clothes. Same spiky, goggled, red hair.

Standing in front of him, was an almost exact copy(aside from the eyes and voice) ...of himself.


End file.
